My Deepest Secret is You
by flamingosarepeopletoo
Summary: Everyone has a secret. Momo's is just a little more complicated than that. On her first day of college, a chance encounter results in her meeting someone who introduces himself as Shouto Fukasu, a fellow art major who has an extreme distaste for his last name. Little did she know that this introduction would spiral into interconnected secrets and emotions setting fire to her heart.
1. Chapter 1: Chance Encounter

**hi hi welcome to my first multichap for this fandom! i'm really excited for this to start!**

 **warning: sloppy writing and uncountable otp moments. continue at your own risk.**

 **there's no specific updating schedule for this fic! i'll just update whenever i get the chance to write. :)**

 **please enjoy, and be sure to tell me what you think!**

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The fragrance of sweet hazelnut coffee wafted into her bedroom, her nose twitching uncomfortably as she ignored the sounds of her beeping alarm clock telling her she had slept in twenty minutes too late. Her eyelids slowly lifted, the entire world just a faint buzz of color till she willed herself to finally get out of bed, smacking the off button on the annoying alarm clock next to her and rubbing her temples in distress.

"Hey, Momo, did you forget about something?"

Groaning, Momo turned to look at her roommate and best friend, Kyouka Jirou. Kyouka was looking at her with a raised eyebrow and a slight smirk. Momo looked down, her eyes landing on a plate of pancakes and a cup of coffee sitting on her bed.

"What?" she asked, confused. "What did I…" She trailed off, her head suddenly snapping up as she gasped and frantically stumbled around for her phone. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Kyouka looking at her, trying to hold in her laughs. She frowned, staring at the date on her screen and instantly thrusting it out to show the giggling girl. "Kyo! Why couldn't you have woken me up sooner?!"

Momo scrambled out of bed, ignoring Kyouka's cackles of amusement and grabbing a random top from her closet and paired it with her favorite khaki shorts, tumbling into the bathroom and slipping the clothes on. Upon exiting, she saw the plate of breakfast sitting on the dining table, probably kept there by her roommate.

"I have a seven o'clock class that I need to get to," Kyouka said, waltzing into the room. "Damn counselor recommended this theory course. Said it would be helpful for musical composition or whatever shit that means."

Momo hummed in response, reaching over and taking the dairy treats into her bare hands, forcefully pushing them into her mouth. Then, she grabbed the mug of coffee, now slightly cooler than how it first was, and gulped it down much like she did with the pancakes.

"My first class is at seven thirty," she responded, chewing on a mouthful of breakfast, "though I kind of wanted to take a walk around campus first."

"With your sleeping habits?" Kyouka snorted, walking over to their front door and slipping on a pair of sneakers. "Doubt it."

Momo narrowed her eyes. "Thanks for believing in me, Kyo," she said, clearly not amused.

"I try," Kyouka replied, shooting her a wave and grabbing the door handle. "See you at five. Remember, your bus time is seven ten."

"Yeah yeah," Momo waved her off, not being able to help the large smile gracing her lips as she watched her best friend sling her purse over her shoulder and exit the room, closing the door behind her. "Bye Mom!" she quickly yelled after, giggling when she didn't get an answer.

After quickly picking up the dishes and throwing them into the sink, Momo went back into her bedroom to clean herself up. She straightened out her clothes, before releasing her hair tie and allowing her long black hair to spring out of its confinements. She took a hair brush, combing her way through the many knots and tangles, and then tying it back up into a loose ponytail. Once she was finished, she dabbed on a little makeup and went to the corner of her room where her bag was, picking it up and slinging it over her shoulder, checking her phone for the time.

It was nearly seven five.

Her eyes widened, realizing that she was going to be late, and quickly ran to the front door, grabbing her keys, and slipping on a pair of plain black sandals. She ran out of the door, banging face-first into a boy with spiky blonde hair, who was merely minding his own business.

She gasped when she fell a few steps back, instantly moving to apologize.

"S-sorry!" she cried, knowing she couldn't waste time on this. She watched as the boy's eyes narrowed, but before he could say anything, she quickly made a break for it again.

"Watch where you're fucking going next time!" was all she managed to register him saying before she whirled down the stairs, ran through the lobby, and leapt out of the front glass doors of her apartment complex.

Now, where was the bus stop again?

Kyouka had said something about going left and she'll find it, so she did that.

Just to find the large bus with the words ' _UAVERSITY'_ on the front, closing its doors and and starting its engine.

She gasped, immediately breaking into a run for the only way she had to get to school. Campus was almost twenty minutes away if she walked, but she was due at her first class in the same amount of time. The bus would only take about five minutes, so she needed to catch it.

Her heels started aching as she sprinted, reminding her that the shoes she was wearing were not made for running. She waved madly to the bus driver, who didn't even spare a second glance at her and started rotating the wheel. That's it. She was doomed. She'd be late on her first day of school and build a horrible reputation to start with.

But then, something strange happened. Just as she was about to give up, the headlights of the bus flashed brightly, and it parked back into the bus stop.

' _It noticed me!'_ Momo grinned wildly, instantly dashing over to the bus, watching in absolute glee as the driver opened the door, allowing her to climb on, her bag slightly hitting the window as she shot the driver, a middle aged man, a large smile.

"Thanks!" she said, panting for breath, her chest heaving.

The man didn't look at her. "Don't thank me, little lady. That fella over there stopped the bus for ya," he said, shooting her a shrug and then using his thumb to point somewhere behind him. Momo followed his gaze, stopping at a boy who looked about her age and who was currently staring at her with an unreadable expression. She gulped, knowing she had to talk to this stranger, thanking the driver once again before sauntering over to the boy.

His hair was what intrigued her the most. The left side was a bright red color, while the right was a brilliant frosty white. When she got closer to him, she could see that his eyes were mismatched too. While his left eye was a sea blue, his right was a deep shade of onyx. If there was one thing Momo could think of at that moment, it was that if she was drooling, she wouldn't blame herself. She quickly caught herself before he noticed that she was staring, moving to balance herself on her right foot and clasping her hands at her sides. She leaned over, bowing low in respect.

"Thank you for stopping the bus for me," she said politely, raising when she heard him clear his throat.

The boy nodded, averting his gaze and sticking his hands in his pockets. She took this as a sign of 'you're welcome', and then grabbed one of the poles sticking out of the floor to support herself as the vehicle started moving.

The silence that followed was deafeningly awkward, and Momo knew that she had to strike a proper conversation with him if she wanted the atmosphere to lift into a more comfortable feeling. Sighing, she realized that the boy wasn't going to say anything to her, so she opened her mouth to speak.

"What's your… your name?" she asked tentatively. She watched in surprise as the boy slightly jumped up, clearly startled by her sudden friendliness.

He coughed, before responding. "I'm Shouto Fukasu," he said. Fukasu. It was a pretty last name. "What's your name?

"Momo Kurieiti," she smiled. "Are you a freshman at UAversity?"

He nodded affirmatively. "I'm an art major."

Her eyes widened, happy to find something they had in common to talk about. "Really? I am too! I'm in 3D, you?"

"Two-dimensional," came his response. She furrowed his eyebrows at his obvious curt tone, and not wanting to be rude, she stepped back a little, giving him his space.

If they were in the same major, it wouldn't come as a surprise if he was in a class or two of hers.

She briefly wondered what minor he was taking, if any. Momo didn't want to ask him, though. She knew it wasn't her place. She had talked to him enough for him to know she was open as a friend if he so wanted.

As the bus entered the parking area of the university, Momo went ahead, jumping out of the bus and slipping her sunglasses onto her face. Something lightly bumped her shoulder, making her turn to see the boy again, walking in the same direction she was headed.

"I'll see you around, Kurieiti," he said in his low, smooth voice. Momo didn't expect that, that was for sure. She wouldn't have thought he would talk to her after their awkward conversation in the bus.

"Y-yeah," she gulped, nodding when he turned to look at her. "I'll see you, Fukasu-san."

He visibly stiffened when she said his name, which piqued her curiosity. His lower jaw- his _fine, fine_ jaw- clenched painfully to the rest of his teeth. It seemed as if something she had said bothered him, but she couldn't quite place what it was.

"Just…" he started, "call me Shouto, okay?"

Momo blinked, but he was already gone, weaving through the crowd of students and most likely going to his first class. She staggered for a fraction of a second, but thankfully made a quick recovery, coughing into the elbow of her right hand and hoisting her bag up further onto her shoulder. It was a nervous habit, though her mind was too preoccupied to even care.

Sure, she guessed she'd have to go with that for now.

"Um… excuse me?" a new voice- a girl's- said, as she felt a finger lightly tap on her left shoulder blade. Momo turned around, coming face to face with a petite girl with a head of auburn hair. She was wearing a tentative smile, which Momo didn't hesitate returning. "My name is Ochako Uraraka," the girl introduced, bowing slightly. "I was wondering if you could help me with something?"

"Oh! Yes, sure, what is it?" Momo asked, raising a kind eyebrow as she surveyed the girl in front of her. Definitely a freshman. She wouldn't be surprised if the girl had mistaken her for someone in an older grade and wanted to ask something regarding the school.

"Do you happen to have a map on you?" Uraraka asked, playing with her fingers. "I'm trying to get to my first class, but I was on vacation with my family when the touring sessions were going on."

Momo stilled, before slowly nodding and pulling out her copy of the campus map out of her purse, handing it to the girl. "Here. I don't need it. I memorized everything right after I got it. It's really just a backup for those just-in-case moments."

Uraraka's face split into a beam as she profusely thanked the taller girl and gently took the map out of her hands. "Thank you so much…" she trailed off, and Momo knew she was looking for her name.

"Momo. Momo Kurieiti."

"Kurieiti, then." Uraraka smiled. "Where's your first class?"

"In the arts building," Momo replied, already growing a peculiar attachment to this girl. There was something about her that immediately drew her in. Was it her openness? Her friendliness? Or maybe it was just that after Fukasu- _Shouto,_ she was relieved to see that there were actual normal people around here. It also seemed like her initial conclusion was wrong. Judging by how Uraraka was acting, she knew she was a freshman just like her.

Momo watched with budding curiosity as Uraraka seemed to study the map, frowning in a few places and furrowing her eyebrows in others. She flipped the map over a couple times, before finally finding something, her eyes lighting up in delight.

"I'm in the physics building. They're right next to each other!" she exclaimed, crumpling the map and shoving it into the pocket of her skirt. "We could walk together."

Momo, not able to help herself, returned her carefree smile with one of her own. "Sure. I'd like that."

And with that, they settled into a steady rhythm of their heels clacking against the concrete floor, their eyes trained towards in order to make sure they didn't bump into someone else.

"So, Uraraka-san," Momo started, eager to make more conversation.

But before she could, Uraraka waved her hand in her direction, smiling adorably. "No need for honorifics. I think we'll be great friends!"

That small little sentence in itself made Momo's heart burst out of its sockets. She had made a friend! Not even ten minutes into the first day of the semester, and she had made a friend! She almost laughed, thinking about how stupid she was being by getting so worked up over this, but decided she held the right. Momo was naturally a friendly person, but the people she talked to usually weren't. Minus Kyouka, of course. She was different.

"I'm glad," Momo grinned. "Anyway, what high school did you go to?"

Uraraka didn't hesitate to quickly return the gesture of happiness, before speaking. "I studied abroad, actually! I went to the sister school of Japan's U.A. Academy, along with a few others. I'll introduce you to them sometime."

Was this the possibility of making _more friends?_ Momo's heartbeat quickened at the thought. There was nothing she liked more than being in a group that accepted her.

It was part of the reason she started dressing more conservatively, too. She didn't want artificial friends that simply fell for her looks, no matter how 'good' they might be. That was a fake, and she didn't want that.

"I'd like that," Momo said, "and I went to U.A, funny enough. I got recommended for its university, so I don't know many people. I can introduce you to the few I do know, though."

By few, she meant one. There was just Kyouka, after all. Everyone else she used to know didn't really classify as her friends.

"That's amazing," Uraraka breathed. "UAversity is the top choice of so many people! The fact that you were recommended to study here is incredible."

Momo laughed half-heartedly. "Well, you too! Even if you attended a similar school, UAversity's still classified as the best of the best."

"So, what are you majoring in?" she asked, switching the subject.

"I'm a three-dimensional arts major. I want to build objects, things, anything really," Momo explained, happy to talk about her biggest interest. "What about you?"

"Astrophysics," Uraraka grinned, curling her hands into a tight fist and grinning wildly. "The study of the universe has always fascinated me. It's really interesting, don't you think?"

So she wanted to be an astronomer? An astrophysicist? It was an admirable career path, definitely, which raised Momo's respect for the girl greatly. She was already kind hearted, but being focused was an entirely different feat.

"I have a classical physics minor, though," Uraraka continued.

"I'm minoring in atomic physics," Momo responded. She had taken the course since she wanted to learn about the properties of the objects she was going to make. It was a hard career path, but she knew she was up for the challenge.

"Oh! We might see each other in a class or two, then!" she exclaimed. "They're both connected to the laws of physics. I heard that a few classes go hand in hand. Do you have your schedule on you?"

Momo knew she was running a bit late, but couldn't help nodding and pulling out her phone, swiping to her camera roll and locating the screenshot she had taken from the email sent to all the students with their timetables earlier. She showed it to her newest friend, watching as she took the phone and zoomed in on the current day, Thursday.

"Hm… let's see," Uraraka chided, scrolling down and looking through Momo's variety of classes. "Oh! Our third class! We both have general physics!"

Momo told herself not to wonder why this girl had her schedule memorized, but not the campus. She waved it off, not wanting to question her about it.

"Really?" she asked, her eyes popping at the revelation. "That's great!"

Suddenly, someone came in between them, lightly flicking both girls' shoulders. Both Uraraka and Momo turned to see a boy slightly taller than them standing there, hosting a head of bright blonde hair with a single black streak in it- probably dyed- and wearing a plain white t-shirt with black pants and black-and-white overcoat.

"Morning, ladies," he greeted them, offering them both a wave. "Couldn't help but overhear that your third block classes are general physics?"

"Uh…" seemed to be both Uraraka and Momo's response to his sudden appearance.

The boy laughed, waving them off. He then stuck out his hand, crossing them so each girl got a dominant one. His left went to Momo, while his right went to Uraraka.

"The name's Denki Kaminari," he introduced as both girls tentatively shook his hand. "I have the same physics class as you."

To this, Momo instantly relaxed. She'd be lying if she said she didn't think he was trying to hit on her, but upon closer inspection, this guy, Kaminari, didn't really seem like that type. He seemed goofy, if anything. His tactics came off a little less roughly than he surely thought.

"Oh," Momo said, "well, my name's Momo Kurieiti."

"Ochako Uraraka," Uraraka chimed in.

"Pleasure," Kaminari responded, before checking his watch and widening his eyes. "Oh crap! We're gonna be late!" He turned back to the two, shooting them both eager waves. "I'm an electromagnetism physics major, by the way. I'll probably be seeing you two around. You're both physics?"

"Minoring," Momo said.

"Majoring," Uraraka said right after.

"Cool. See you two around," Kaminari said, shooting them both finger guns before walking off in the direction of the physics building. Uraraka smiled at Momo, giving her one last wave before following him.

"I should get going too. It was nice to meet you, Kurieti!"

Momo laughed. "Just Momo's fine!"

Uraraka seemed a little taken aback, but nodded happily in return. "Then you can call me Ochako, too!"

"Alright! Bye!" Momos called, waving to her new friend before turning and entering the arts building, navigating her way through the many floors and hallways before finally stepping in front of the one she was looking for.

 _General Anatomy and Figure Drawing. Class A._

Her teacher was a lad named Higari Maijima. She had heard flitting rumors about him, and apparently he was really short and was a generally positive and happy man.

She only could hope the rumors did him justice.

She took a deep breath, grabbing the door handle and stepping into the classroom, the light reflecting the windowsills flooding her eyes, making her hand quickly jump up and cover the upper part of her face. When she got used to the heavy sunlight, she faced, indeed, an extremely short man with quite large hands staring up at her, wearing the most blinding grin she'd ever seen.

Maybe the light wasn't from the sun. Maybe it was just from his teeth.

"Ah, Kurieiti-san, right?" he nodded at her, flipping through the notebook sitting on his desk. "Just made it in time! Good job!"

He was a chirpy one.

Maijima-sensei handed her an empty black leather-bound folder, before pointing to a seat on the far left side of the classroom. Momo nodded, bowing, before gathering her things and walking over to the seat, slipping onto the chair and letting her bag fall to the floor besides her.

She didn't pay much attention to her surroundings, instead organizing the many sheets of paper in the folder, filing them by class criteria to assignments and placing them all in their own little place. She smiled at her handiwork, taking out a freshly sharpened pencil and titling the first page in a sketchbook she bought before school started with the words, _Day One._

As she boxed the words and went over them in a bright pink highlighter, she felt someone's eyes on her. Frowning, she looked up, glancing in front of her and behind her, before finally looking to her right, where a certain familiar boy was staring at her intensely.

She nearly jumped up when she saw Shouto Fukasu sitting next to her, drumming his ballpoint pen on the desk and aimlessly tapping his foot on the floor. He too had a notebook out in front of him, but unlike her, his was blank. They connected in brief eye contact, with Momo the first to look away.

"Hello, Kurieiti," he greeted, finally looking back up to Maijima-sensei, who was currently drawing a sphere on the whiteboard.

She gulped, knowing it was her turn to respond. "H-hi, Fuk- Shouto," she said, remembering to call him by his first name at the last second.

Thankfully, he didn't seem to tense up like he did the last time she addressed him, making her wonder if it was because of the name she used. He didn't like being called by his last name? Maybe, but she couldn't be too sure just yet.

He furrowed his eyebrows, finally scribbling something down in his book. Upon closer inspection, she saw that it was the very same sphere Maijima-sensei was lecturing them to draw. Momo quickly positioned her pencil in her hand, drawing a rough sketch of the figure.

"Why are you using a pencil?" Shouto's voice came again. Momo glanced towards him, surprised at his sudden curiosity in her. She then looked around the room, and sure enough, not a single other person was using a pencil.

"What?" she asked, her eyes narrowing. "What do you mean? I always sketch in pencil."

"By using a pencil, you're putting yourself in a position where you're more prone to making mistakes," Shouto replied, his voice low and unwavering. "When you're using a pencil, there's the possibility of erasing anything you're not satisfied with. With a pen, it's different. There's no such thing as going back."

Momo bit her lip, obviously not expecting his little lecture. "Well, what if I feel more comfortable using a pencil?"

Shouto shook his head. "It isn't for you to decide. Using a pen is better for sketching, since you're more focused on making what you're drawing clear and accenuated, rather than worrying if the line you drew came from the right direction or was straight enough. That's just one example."

She was quickly learning that this guy was a lot more talkative than he initially let on. It might just have been nerves, sure, but this was downright unbelievable.

"I… I see," Momo nodded, not wanting to argue. She had to admit, though, he did have a good point. All of her old art teachers said the same thing to her, but for some reason, hearing it from Shouto made her want to comply. She reached into her bag, fumbling around for a pen she could use, groaning when she realized she hadn't brought any. "I don't have any," she muttered, setting her bag back down. "I'll have to ask Maijima-sensei if I can borrow one."

"No need," was all Shouto said, before he reached into his own haversack and tossed her a black ballpoint. Her eyes widened, quickly reaching her hands out to catch the writing utensil with the cup-like shape her hands had taken up. She shot him a look, only to see that he was smirking deeply at her, watching in amusement as she huffed and slipped the cap off of the pen.

"Just so you know, I prefer my pens blue," she said, crossing her legs and going over her previous pencil sketch in the refined black ink. She gulped, not liking how playful she sounded. She had meant for it to be rough, and curt, just like he had been upon their first meeting. What she got, though, was something entirely different.

"I have a blue one too," he replied, his smirk deepening in a painfully annoying fashion. Of course he did. She wouldn't have expected him not to.

"I'll stick with the black," she said, clicking her tongue and picking up her pink highlighter, going over some of the labels and keywords Maijima-sensei was going on about.

"See, this is a general figure drawing class," was what he was currently saying. "We have a large variety of different majors and minors in here. Is anyone here majoring in traditional art?"

A few people raised their hand, including Shouto. Momo made a mental note to remember this.

Maijima-sensei nodded. "Okay, how about digital art?"

About four other people raised their hand.

"Figure creating out of three-dimensional properties?"

A few others raised their hands, this time with Momo. She nodded around to the others who lightly tipped their heads in her direction out of respect for their peer.

"Excellent," Maijima-sensei said, clapping his hands. "Is anyone here doing any form of art as a minor?"

Everyone who hadn't already raised their hand did so now, and the familiar comfortable nods in their direction was enough for them to settle back down.

"Alright. Then you're majoring in something adequate enough? Something that suits your artistic talent?"

There was a faint murmur of 'yes' and 'I think so' sweeping through the room as Maijima-sensei took back his seat and leaned back in it, taking up a pen and a pencil.

"Now, tell me what this is," he said, holding up the pencil and showing to to the students. There were a few snorts, but some brave soul decided to say, "A wooden piece of crap."

Was this class just filled with immature people? Or was that just her mind playing obvious tricks on her?

Maijima-sensei, though, didn't lose his smile as he responded. "Well, yes, it's made out of wood, which makes it a pencil. Now, tell me what this is," he said, holding up the pen.

Again, the same person from before said a simple "A plastic piece of crap."

"Right, but this _pen_ is actually made of high pristine glass and crystal," Maijima-sensei replied. "I got it for my eighteenth birthday so many years ago. I'll give you it for a nice try, though."

Momo snorted at that, happy that her teacher set the annoying student in place.

"He's awfully hyper," Shouto muttered from besides her. "I wonder if he'll simmer down as the semester goes forward."

"And you're awfully aggravating," Momo shot back. "Honestly, lighten up. It's the first day. He's bound to be a little cheery."

"Hm," Shouto replied, seemingly deep in thought. "Then I take it you've heard the rumors about him."

"What? Him being nice and friendly?"

"Him being _overly_ nice and friendly. There's a fine line."

There was a ghost of a smile on his lips, which Momo didn't fail to notice.

"Ah, well, maybe you can grow up to become an art teacher and show him up. The children will be bowing around you, right? Fukasu-sensei! Fukasu-sensei! Please teach us your ways!" She giggled, finding humor in her words.

Shouto shot her a less-than-amused look. "I didn't come here to be insulted."

"No, you didn't. But then you stopped the bus for me. I consider you a friend." She did, and she could only hope he would accept it. All Momo wanted was more friends. More genuine friends. This guy may be a little top-notch, but she'd take it if it meant she'd have someone to talk to during class.

"I consider you my acquaintance. Practically a stranger." He was still looking straight ahead, and had not met her gaze for a few minutes now. No mind.

"Strangers don't stop buses for each other. Strangers don't tell strangers to call them by their first name. Strangers don't greet strangers like friends upon arriving into a class."

She'd cornered him, and the felt a small victory at that. She obviously knew nothing about this guy, of course, but that didn't matter. She felt a strange swelling in her chest when she saw him considering this, his cheeks beginning to move as he spoke.

"I don't like my last name," he finally said, his eyes narrowing as he finally turned to look at her. "That's why I don't like people calling me that. It isn't just _you."_

She instantly cowered back, recognizing his powerful voice as one that was supposed to evoke fear. She _knew_ then that she had gone too far. She had no right to speak to him like that, especially when she knew next to nothing about him. She had messed up. She didn't know what to do, now.

So, she decided to just go with it. It couldn't get any worse than this, after all.

"S-strangers don't tell strangers about that either," she said, her voice barely a whisper.

He grunted, clenching his fist around his pencil and averted his gaze back to the front of the room. "Hey," she started, this time sounding a little more confident. If he had been able to confess that to her, she felt like she had a duty to do the same. "I don't really like my last name either, if it makes any difference."

Shouto's head snapped back in her direction, and she could tell he was regretting talking to her about this. There was… something in those eyes that told her she didn't have any business in this personal matter of his. Something in his eyes that told her she didn't have to tell him about her own insecurities.

But he had done so for her, and she wanted to do the same for him.

"Your last name is beautiful, though," he said, looking at her with such heat and fire coming out of his eyes. "I don't… I don't understand why you wouldn't like it."

"The same reason you don't like yours," Momo shot back immediately. Of course, she didn't know his reasons, and he didn't know hers. But she didn't think she had to know them. This was enough.

Little did she know how much truth those last words held.

…

After a disaster of a figure drawing class, Momo went straight for her second class, her minor in atomic physics, which, surprisingly, went a lot better than she would have hoped.

Her third class, General Physics, wouldn't be for another half hour, so she had time to chill and wait around. She remembered that both Ochako and Kaminari were with her for this class, so hopefully it would go smoothly.

"Momo!" someone called for her, making her turn around. Walking up to her was Kyouka, followed by Ochako and then Kaminari. The person who had called out to her was obviously Kyouka, judging by the voice.

"Oh, hey Kyo," she said as the three of them approached.

Kyouka slapped Momo's back, giving her a playful glare as Ochako and Kaminari came up to her as well.

"So, you made a new gal pal-"

"Do I just suddenly not exist anymore?" Kaminari cut in.

"-and you didn't tell me about her?" Kyouka continued, ignoring the blonde.

Ah. They had all already met. Well, that definitely saved introduction time.

"I did!" Momo said, walking up to Ochako and draping an arm around her. The three girls looked back at Kaminari, who was sputtering, and laughed at his misery.

"I don't like you guys," he huffed, crossing his arms and pouting, looking away.

Ochako grinned, looking up to Momo as she let go of her. "Are you ready for our class together, Momo-chan?"

"Ooh," Kyouka said, wiggling her eyebrows, "first name basis already?"

"Hey!" Momo said, her eyes narrowing but in a completely playful manner. "And yeah! Do you know who the teacher is?"

"We don't have one," Kaminari spoke up, waltzing into their little circle.

Momo furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, we technically have a teacher, but I heard from a few people that he barely ever shows up to class. It's like, an entirely free period."

" _What?!"_ both Momo and Ochako exclaimed in surprise.

"But I took that class for minor credits!" Momo wailed. "I'd at least like to learn something out of it!"

Kaminari waved his hand. "I mean, the class has textbooks if you want to learn stuff. But c'mon, it's a general class. It's required. They're never good."

Momo wanted to point out that her general anatomy class was plenty good, but even she knew that was a lie. Especially with the annoying boy who sat on her right side.

"You seem frazzled," Kyouka said pointedly, studying Momo's face. "Something wrong?"

Momo shrugged. "Just a stupid class I had in the morning. It's okay, though. I'm fine, and definitely not frazzled."

Thankfully, her roommate left it at that.

Ochako glanced at the giant clock on the top of one of the towers on campus, her eyes widening when she saw the time. "Oh! We should get going if we want to make a good impression on the-"

"There isn't a teacher, remember?" Kaminari said, flicking Ochako's forehead as he began to walk to the physics building.

Kyouka laughed, waving out to the three of them and backing away. "I should get to my improvisational music class, too."

"Ew!" Kaminari yelled back at her, sticking out his tongue.

"Shut up, physics major!" Kyouka shot back.

"Music major!" Kaminari replied, before grabbing both Momo and Ochako and sprinting to the physics building with them right on his tails.

When they entered the air conditioned building, Momo shot Kaminari a pointed smirk. "You seem awfully close with her."

Kaminari sputtered.

"Relax," she waved it off. "It's all in good fun."

…

Sweat reeked from her body as her last class of the day ended. Cup of iced hazelnut coffee that she had gotten from the on-campus coffee shop in her left hand and her bag slung over her right. Momo strutted of campus, ready to go home and make a nice dinner for herself. Or, better yet, Kyouka could do it.

Taking a sip from her cold coffee, she walked to the bus stop that would take her back to her apartment. It was almost five o'clock, meaning for once in her life, she wasn't late. Kyouka was already home, since her last class ended about an hour ago.

Momo dipped her head as she crossed the street, reaching the stop and looking around to see if she knew anyone. Most people lived in the campus dorms, like Ochako, while others had their own places, like herself, Kyouka, and Kaminari. Kaminari went to a different stop, though. His was on the opposite side of campus.

"Kurieiti," someone greeted. Momo's eyes shot up to see Shouto leaning comfortably against the railing of the board with the bus times on it.

Oh, right. He took the same bus as her.

"Shouto," she acknowledged, nodding.

Shouto took a sip out of his steel red water bottle, before looking back at her.

"Good first day?" he asked.

"It was fine," Momo answered vaguely.

He hummed, slipping out his phone and typing something. She watched as he furrowed his eyebrows at the screen, meaning he was probably texting someone.

Momo didn't want to look stupid, so she too opened her mobile device, going to her texts to shoot something to Kyouka.

 _Momo Kurieiti: heyy did you make dinner? hungry as hell_

The reply she got was almost instant.

 _Kyouka Jirou: haha u rlly think imma make u food? u already got it this morn. enjoy starving hon._

 _Momo Kurieiti: you're so cruel, kyo!_

She sighed, not expecting any less. Thankfully, she remembered seeing a few slices of bread on the counter his morning, so she could probably get by with a sandwich or something.

The bus screeched to a stop in front of them, and it was then when she realized that there was no one else there. She squeaked in surprise as they loaded the bus, making Shouto turn to look at her weirdly.

"What?" he asked, curious.

"Where's everyone else?" Momo asked him as they took they took seats across from each other.

Shouto raised an eyebrow. "Probably out partying or something. It's the first day. No one goes home so early."

To this, she snorted. "Then are we what people consider 'lame'?"

He shrugged. "I suppose so."

She didn't say anything to that, looking back at the window and leaning on the back of her seat. She watched as the landmarks she had learned to memorize passed by as the bus got closer and closer to the stop near her place.

The ride was a silent one, with Shouto still texting whoever he was texting, and Momo silently looking out the window. They were in their own worlds now, and Momo doubted they'd speak again for the rest of the bus ride. Besides, her stop was the next one.

When the bus finally pulled into her stop, she got up, pulling her bag back up onto her shoulder. To her surprise, Shouto got up as well, and the two walked in silence to the front of the bus, where they slipped out after thanking the driver, and started walking in the same direction with Momo a few feet in front of him.

Was he following her?

No, that couldn't be it. He was still too invested in his phone and she was sure he had barely even noticed her in front of him.

Then, that blasted phone of his began ringing. He picked up.

"Bakugou, you need to just-" He paused. "Don't swear at me. Don't call me that." He paused again. "It's in the closet. No, the closet in your room; why would I have it? Katsuki, calm down. I'll be home soon. Yes, I can make dinner." Pause again. "My cooking is plenty good. Okay, you know what? One more complaint and I'm leaving you hungry tonight. When I get home I'll help you." Pause. "Alright. Bye." He took the phone away from his ear and clicked it shut. Momo faintly heard him sigh, followed by a sharp intake of breath. Ah, yes. It seemed as if Mister Fukasu finally realized she was there.

She didn't say anything, though. She wanted him to know she had no interest in whatever he was up to. That was probably his roommate on the phone.

Just how close did they live to each other?!

Momo took the turn into her apartment complex, grateful to finally get away from him. But just as she looked back, she spotted him still behind her. Her eyes widened when their gazes met, but neither of them made any effort to speak.

Okay. He lived in the same building she did. She'd have to endure it.

So, without a word, she went to the elevator, pushing the button and angrily realizing he was there too. Though when he noticed this, he turned away from her and started walking to the staircase. Breathing a sigh of relief, Momo entered the lift, pushing the number ' _7'_ and waiting patiently for the doors to close.

Now all she had to do was go home, rant to Kyouka, force her to make dinner, flop on her bed, and go to sleep.

When the elevator doors opened for her, she stepped out, a big smile on her face.

That smile quickly subsided when she saw who was standing right in front of her. Honestly, she was more surprised at how quickly he climbed those stairs.

Stupid Shouto Fukasu lived on the same floor as her.

Both of them quickly averted their gazes, but Momo knew that now enough was enough.

"You, uh, live here?" she asked as they began walking. _In the same direction,_ might she add.

"I do," Shouto nodded. "I wouldn't be here if I didn't."

"Dunno. You might just be some weird stalker," Momo shrugged.

"Funny," he said.

She shrugged in response. "What number are you?"

"I'm the one at the very end. Fifteen."

She breathed a sigh of relief at that. They were close, but there was still a fair distance between them.

"I'm number nine," she replied. Six apartments between them. That was good.

"Well, then," Shouto started just as they reached her door. "I guess we'll be seeing a lot more of each other soon."

She shrugged again, ignoring the clammy feeling in her throat. Inaudibly gulping, she nodded and took out her keys, slipping them into the doorknob.

"Yeah. Yeah, I guess we will," was the last thing she said before opening the door wide and slipping inside before he could respond.

And as she kicked off her shoes, threw her bag onto the kitchen counter, and ignored Kyouka's greetings, she trudged to her room, shoving herself onto the bed and curling up into a tiny ball.

She had made two new friends today. Ochako Uraraka and Denki Kaminari.

Shouto… well, she'd get to him soon enough.

* * *

 **next chapter: shouto has an angry roommate and midoriya izuku is a cutie pie**


	2. Chapter 2: Who's Bakugou?

**thank you so much for the positive feedback! please enjoy this chapter!**

 **next chapter might be delayed a bit as i'm going on vacation for about 9 days. ^^**

* * *

"Hi," Momo said, using a spoon to stir the hazelnut cream into her regular cup of coffee, "Mom." She readjusted her cell phone on her ear, picking up the hot drink and raising it to her lips. Kyouka had an early class that day, giving Momo free reign of the apartment. Not that she planned on actually making use of it, though. She needed to get on a call with her mom since the small window of freedom from her roommate didn't come as often nowadays.

"Good morning, Momo," her mother's voice filtered through the speaker of the phone. "Did you have a good first day at UAversity?"

Her gut twisted. Her mother did often ask how she was doing, but her wellbeing was a secondary issue. Momo knew what she really meant. The 'How are you?' was just a cover for 'Did you find the guy?'

"It was good. My classes are going well," she said instead. No use in humoring the older woman so soon. She'd have her way.

Her mother hummed on the opposite side of the line. "And? Any news?"

Momo sighed, rolling her eyes. She knew her mother couldn't see her, which made the setup all the more perfect. Momo didn't _want_ to tell her anything, even though there was practically nothing to tell. Still, the small power advantage made her feel good about herself, even if only for a few seconds.

"What? Todoroki?" she asked, feigning innocence. "No, I don't have anything yet."

She could hear her mother's sigh perfectly well, but she decided to ignore it. She was going to put pressure on her anyway, even if she _had_ found him. It was inevitable.

"Momo, what did I tell you before? As soon as you enroll, you are to start your search," her mother said. "Did you get the files? We need all possible leads, and-"

"Mother," Momo interrupted, silencing her cold. "You haven't given me anything to work with. All those files have are his surname and his age. Don't you know how he looks or something?"

"You know how the Todorokis are."

"No," Momo said, gritting her teeth. "No, I really don't. I don't know a thing about this guy that I'm supposed to be looking for besides his last name." How was she supposed to look for him?

Her mother sighed again. "If you'd like, we can schedule another-"

"No!" she quickly responded. "No need. I'll… I'll figure something out."

The line went silent for a few seconds. "Do not forget your place, Momo. You are a member of the Yaoyorozu family. Our heir. Do not involve yourself in any pointless gambles."

"Yeah yeah," Momo replied, her tone lazy, but unwavering. "I have a class to get to. Bye." She didn't wait for a response, clicking the button to end the call within seconds. Momo clenched her fingers around her cellular device tightly, shutting her eyes and taking a deep breath. "Our heir my ass."

Throwing her phone onto the counter, Momo brought her eyes to a close, her lashes fluttering as she buried her face in her hands.

Todoroki Whatever-His-First-Name-Is. She had to find him if she wanted to bring her family honor. The word 'honor' was used lightly, though. All her people wanted from the boy was…

Nevermind. It didn't matter. She didn't want to fall prey to such thoughts.

Gulping down the rest of her coffee, Momo shook her head roughly from the small caffeine high, and picked up her phone, slipping it into her bag and hoisting it up on her shoulder. She put on a regular pair of flats and let out a feeble yawn, opening the front door and stepping out, locking it right behind her.

When she turned around, she came face to face with the one person she wasn't in the mood to deal with. Scratch that, actually. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't curious about what he wanted to say.

"Good morning," Shouto Fukasu said with a nod, acknowledging her casually.

"Morning," she replied nonchalantly, walking a stride ahead of him.

His expression didn't match his words, though, and Momo knew he wanted to say something to her.

"What?" she asked, not amused. If he was going to talk to her, he should do it quickly. She didn't want to be late like the day before.

"Question," he said, holding onto his haversack and directing his gaze at her. He was silent after that, waiting for her response.

Momo almost groaned. "Shouto, please, I'm not in the mood." She was in the mood. She was _definitely_ in the mood to show him up with a superb answer to his question, whatever it was.

"Did we have any homework in Anatomy?" he continued, ignoring her. At her baffled look, his eyes narrowed. "Well I'm sorry. I was too busy talking to you to pay attention to the assignment."

Ah yes, that was right. The dreaded conversation they had about pens and pencils.

She smirked. "I can be pretty distracting, can't I."

"Right," he said, his tone not failing to portray his indifference. "No, but, I'm genuinely curious, did we have anything due today?"

Smiling, she shook her head. "No. I don't think so, at least." It was the first day, and Maijima-sensei hadn't set out a concrete assignment for the class.

Just as he was about to open his mouth and say something, there was a loud _bang,_ resulting in the door for apartment number fifteen opening and a boy stomping out with angry eyes and a displeased expression.

She recognized him. He was the same blonde boy with spiky hair who had swore at her after she bumped into him on her way downstairs yesterday. _He was Shouto's roommate. This guy was Shouto's roommate._

She vaguely remembered Shouto on the phone with this boy. He had addressed him in two ways. First, as 'Bakugou', and second, as 'Katsuki'. Momo wondered which was his real name, or whether one of them was his first name and the other his last name.

"Fukasu fucking Shouto," the boy spat as he came closer to the duo. It was then when Momo realized that he was completely bare, save for a measly towel wrapped around his middle. His entire body was soaked in water, which gave her the impression that he had just stepped out of the shower.

Shouto furrowed his eyebrows, obviously not very pleased with his roommates attire of choice.

"Bakugou, why are you-"

"You used up all the hot water, shitface! Goddammit doesn't the word 'roommate' ring a bell in that stupid head of yours?"

Momo stared at the two of them with a grin face, almost feeling guilty for finding amusement in their situation.

She was going to like this guy.

"Calm down, Bakugou," Shouto said with a roll of his eyes. "Just wait for a few minutes and the water should be running fine."

"It isn't that fucking easy." His name was Bakugou. Momo was certain of this.

"Pray tell me, Katsuki. Why isn't it that easy?" Katsuki was his first name. It seemed more ideal that way, in any case. Katsuki Bakugou.

Momo smirked. This was far too entertaining for her liking. Shouto had a badass roommate who didn't have any problems swearing at him?

Gold.

"Because, unlike you, I actually have priorities," Bakugou replied, adjusting the position of his towel on the bottom half of his body. A very nice body, might she add. "I have a class and the teacher told us to not have a speck of anything other than skin on ourselves. Shit's fine, as far as- wait… who's the chick?"

Momo's eyes shot up to meet Bakugou's, trying to hide her smile as she bowed low.

"Momo Kurieiti," she said as her introduction, before rising. "I believe you were the one I bumped into yesterday."

"Hell right," Bakugou muttered. "Stupid girl thinking no end of herself."

Momo wasn't fazed, however.

"I told you," she started, "my name is Momo Kurieiti."

Her eyes darted to where Shouto was, not at all surprised to see him trying to suppress his laughs.

"Bakugou, play nice," Shouto said, smirking evenly. "Introduce yourself to the lovely Kurieiti."

"Yeah yeah," Bakugou said, rolling his eyes. Instead of bowing like she was sure he was supposed to do, he casually crossed his arms and leaned against the wall of the hallway. "Name's Katsuki Bakugou. This is my shitty roommate, Shouto Fuck-asu."

She couldn't help but burst into a tiny fit of giggles at the stupid pun.

"Don't call me that, and this shitty roommate of yours is telling you to go inside and put some clothes on," Shouto shot back, glaring at him. "Control yourself. You're in the presence of a female."

Ah, so he did have some morals.

"Tch." Bakugou clicked his tongue, his face scrunching up into a heavy scowl. "Next thing you know, you'll be telling me to stop swearing like Deku does."

"Izuku has a sense of self respect and pride," Shouto replied instantly. "I admire that about him."

"Doesn't stop you from spouting shitty nonsense."

"Shut up."

Momo wondered briefly who this 'Izuku' person was, but decided it would be better if she were to find out in her own time. Glancing at her watch, which read almost seven o'clock, she reached out to tug Shouto's shirt, not even bothering to think about the implications that came with it.

Thankfully, he didn't seem to notice, though Bakugou certainly did. Said boy raised his eyebrows and his lips curled back to form a deep smirk. Momo quickly let go of Shouto, stepping back slightly to give him some personal space.

"We're going to be late," she offered helplessly, her shoulders hunching.

Shouto nodded, turning to offer one final wave to Bakugou.

"I'll see you later," he said, before rejoining Momo. She didn't bother looking back to see what Bakugou was doing, not finding herself caring as much as she knew she should have.

"Um, your roommate's…" she said as they entered the elevator. Momo glanced up at him, not at all pleased by her shaky conversation starter.

"A pain in the neck?" Shouto finished for her, shrugging. "Yeah. That's just him. He's always been like that."

"I don't know if I should feel sorry for you or not," Momo said slowly.

"You probably should. Things can get a little… hectic." He swallowed. "Oh, Bakugou's a freshman just like us. Chemistry major."

Momo blinked back her shock. That… _person_ was in a science major? If anything, Momo expected him to be an athlete of sorts. He definitely had the body, that was for sure.

Then again, people didn't usually expect her to be an art major, so she wasn't one to judge. Her minor in atomic physics was what kept their expectations high.

"Interesting," she nodded as they stepped outside of the building and onto the sidewalk that would take them to the bus stop.

The two of them fell into a gradual silence, allowing Momo to contemplate her newfound friendship-of-sorts with this boy. If it could even count as a friendship. Honestly, she wasn't too sure yet, and she knew she had to confront him soon.

As they waited for the bus to arrive, Momo remembered something.

"Does Bakugou not take the bus as well?" she asked, genuinely curious.

Shouto shrugged. "He does, but he's constantly sleeping in. He always has to hitch a ride with that girl friend of his."

"He has a girlfriend?"

"No, not a girlfriend. A _girl friend._ She's just way too nice for her own good and for some reason, she's able to tolerate Bakugou. Almost as much as me."

"How do you tolerate him, anyway?" she asked as the bus rolled into the side of the street. They climbed in, saying a casual 'good morning' to the bus driver before going to the back of the bus where they got seats next to each other.

"I don't," Shouto said as they lowered themselves onto the hard, plastic chairs. "Not really. He was always picking fights with me during the brief time I was in high school."

That piqued her interest. "Brief time?" she questioned.

"I went to a high school abroad for my first year. You know the sister school of U.A. Academy?"

"Yeah. One of my friends, Ochako Uraraka went there."

"You know Uraraka?" he asked, surprised. "She's the friend of Bakugou's I was telling you about."

"Really?"

"Mhm." He redirected his gaze to the window of the bus as they pulled into campus. "My father decided to put me in homeschooling for my final years of high school."

Memories flooded back to Momo once he said that. The painful image of her mother rapping her head as she sat on the desk in her room, solving word problems and answering reading comprehension questions. Having enough and going to her father about it. Going to a regular high school.

She gulped back those thoughts, knowing that if she continued to think about it, Shouto would notice and probably ask her about why she was acting that way. She didn't think she was quite ready for that conversation.

"I was homeschooled too," she whispered, knowing she owed him at least that much. "I only went to a normal school for my last year of high school."

He stayed silent.

She coughed awkwardly, not having the heart to relish in their uncomfortable silence.

As the bus rolled into the parking lot and the students all bustled out, Shouto stayed besides her, much to her confusion. Yesterday, he had gone off right after they arrived. Why would today be any different?

As if understanding her thoughts, he raised an eyebrow. "We have Anatomy first block. It's better to stay together."

Ah. Of course.

"Right," she breathed, her eyes darting to meet his.

Shouto was looking somewhere ahead, his lips forming a thin line while his eyes were a bit wider than normal.

Curious, Momo followed the direction of his gaze, stopping at the sight of Ochako talking to a boy with curly green hair and specks of freckles covering his cheeks.

But it wasn't that exactly, it was the fact that Bakugou was behind Ochako, his hands in his pockets and a disdainful look directed at him. Ochako was speaking animatedly to the boy, blissfully unaware of the withering person behind her.

"What… what?" Momo murmured, looking back at Shouto.

"Oh. This should be good," was his only reply, and he quickly dodged her and walked up to the trio with Momo trailing closely behind him.

Upon approaching them, the green haired boy's eyes widened in delight. He offered a wave to Shouto, and a polite nod to Momo, though she was sure he had no idea who she was. She could instantly tell he was a nice person, just by that one action.

"Shouto-kun," he said, his voice lifting adorably. The boy smiled from ear to ear, which Shouto returned with a faint one of his own.

Ochako grinned, waving to Shouto. "Oh! Shouto! Momo-chan!"

"Hi, Ochako-chan," Momo smiled.

"Uraraka, Izuku," Shouto said.

So this was the infamous Izuku that Shouto and Bakugou were talking about this morning. Though Bakugou had referred to him as 'Deku'. Could that just be his first name or his last name?

"I'm Momo Kurieiti," Momo said, bowing towards the boy. "I'm Shouto and Bakugou's neighbor."

He grinned in return. "Hello! I'm Izuku Midoriya."

Izuku Midoriya. Midoriya.

That meant he and Shouto were on first name terms. They _had_ to be close.

Bakugou made a sudden, weird sound with his mouth that sounded somewhere between a strangled yell and a light scoff.

"We call him Deku," he said, glaring at him.

"Kacchan, only you and Uraraka-san call me that," Midoriya said, his voice small.

"Yeah, the rest call you a fucking pain."

"Bakugou-kun!" Ochako said, her lips forming a pout as she crossed her arms. "Not nice!"

"Tch. Whatever."

That was astoundingly shocking. I'd Ochako was able to calm someone like Bakugou down like that, it had to mean something. She already knew they knew each other well enough. Why else would Ochako offer to take him to school with her everyday?

"Momo-chan, we're planning on going out for dinner today. Would you like to come with us?" Ochako asked.

She must have made plans with one of the boys already. Momo's cheeks instantly reddened. If she was going on a date, why did she invite her along too? Was it just to be polite, lest her finding out later? That was unnecessary. She didn't want to be a burden.

"Ochako-chan, you don't have to invite me!" she quickly said, her entire face burning brightly. "It's okay if you want some private time with-"

"What?" Ochako said, cocking her head to the side. Her eyes popped open in realization, and Momo could barely make out the large smirk on Shouto's face. "Oh!" Ochako exclaimed, catching on. "No no! I'm inviting Kaminari and Jirou too! Shouto, you come as well!"

Shouto's eyebrows narrowed. "What? You're inviting _me?"_

"You too, Bakugou-kun, Deku-kun," she continued, ignoring him.

Heaving a sigh of relief, Momo nodded. "Alright. What time, and where?" she asked.

"How about six at the All Might?" Ochako suggested. "It's that Italian place just off campus. We can walk together after our last classes."

Momo had heard about the All Might, of course. It was a UAversity tradition to go there after exams to chill with friends. That didn't mean it wasn't a regular hangout, though. Many students went for just a casual dinner with their peers and classmates.

"Sounds good," she replied, nodding. "I'll see you guys around." She turned to face Shouto, who was looking at the group oddly. Upon noticing her stare, he quickly cleared his throat and started walking alongside her. They had a class to get to.

"That was Midoriya Izuku," he started after a few seconds of silence. "He was… well, he still is, one of my best friends from high school."

She was right. They were definitely close.

"Oh? So the great Shouto Fukasu is capable of making friends?" Momo replied, teasing him.

"What? Are _we_ not friends?"

That caught her off guard. Just yesterday he told her something about not being friends, and even went as far as to berate her of thinking of them as such. How could feelings like that change overnight?

"You… you tell me," she said, fumbling with her words. "You weren't exactly very nice to me yesterday when I called you my friend."

"Of course I wasn't," he said, a curious look on his face, "I had just met you that day. We can't be friends after only a few hours of knowing each other, can we?"

"By that logic, we shouldn't be friends right now, either."

"Why not? It's been more than a day."

"But the time of two people knowing each other doesn't decide the fate of their relationship."

"I didn't know you at all."

"It doesn't work like that."

He fell silent, prompting Momo to shoot a look his way. She sighed upon seeing his closed off expression directed at the ground, his features etched towards the middle of his face and his eyebrows furrowed deeply.

"It… doesn't?" he asked, clearly taken aback. "But how can someone trust someone else so quickly? Isn't friendship a gift?"

She paused, thinking this over. Was friendship a gift? Did you have to earn someone's friendship.

The answer was yes. Yes, you did.

"I've never really thought of it like that, but yeah, I suppose," she answered. "The thing is, if you do trust a person, no matter how long you've known them, then I think it should be okay for you to consider them as at least your friend, if not more."

"More?"

"Well, I mean, there are other relationships other than friendship. And anyway, if you meet someone and you instantly hit it off or something, wouldn't you consider them your friend?"

His forehead knitted tightly, almost as if he was thoroughly processing this. Almost as if this was new information for him.

"Did you consider me your friend right after I held the bus for you?"

Momo's teeth stretched forwards to take the flesh of her inner lip in her grasp. She bit down roughly, ignoring the stinging sensation that came right afterwards. It was a good question. After Shouto stopped the bus for her yesterday, did she think of him as a friend? He definitely earned a sense of respect from her, and she would be lying if she said she didn't immediately trust him more than she would have if they had met any other way. She had thought of him as a kind individual for doing something like that for her. But did that make him her friend right off the bat?

"No. Not exactly," she finally said, catching his attention again.

"But you just said-"

"Not yet, anyway," she interrupted him. "We hadn't spoken to each other yet. I didn't know anything about you. I couldn't consider you my friend till I actually had a proper conversation with you, see?"

"But then you're just contradicting your own words." The two of them had long ago reached the art building, and were now stupidly waiting outside their classroom's door having this petty conversation. "You said if you trust someone, you can consider them your friend. Did you not trust me?"

"I did," Momo said, her voice becoming quieter with each passing second. "Of course I did. You were admirable in my eyes for doing something like that for me. I trusted you. Plus, you didn't look sketchy. That was a bonus."

"Sketchy?" he repeated.

"Nevermind."

"Hm." He hummed through his nostrils. "We should get into class."

He wasn't going to confront what she had just confessed about him, but that was okay. It might have been a little weird, anyway, so she didn't really mind.

So, she followed him through the now-open doors of Maijima-sensei's class, slipping into her seat and taking out her notebook.

 _Day Two._

…

"Kyo, this is Shouto Fukasu and his roommate, Katsuki Bakugou," Momo said, standing between her best friend and the two boys. Kyouka stared between them all evenly, turning to Bakugou and lifting an eyebrow.

"Hey, I know you," she said. "You're that guy who's always yelling in the hallways when I'm trying to get to class."

Bakugou's eyes narrowed. "And you're that chick who's always threatening to punch me whenever I yell in the hallways," he responded. "You're annoying as fuck."

"The feeling is mutual," Kyouka said, crossing her arms and glaring at him.

"Well," Shouto cut in, "that's nice and all, but..." He trailed off, and Momo knew it was her turn to speak.

She twisted her lips into a frown. "Uh… right."

"So you two live in our building?" Kyouka asked, switching the subject.

"We're the sixth door to your right," Shouto said.

"Oh!" Kyouka exclaimed suddenly, her eyes widening. "Yes! That's right! You're that guy Momo was talking about. Fukasu, right?"

"I prefer Shouto."

"Shouto." She looked thoughtful. "Do you consider everyone your friend, then?" she asked. "I mean, you let them call you by your first name so easily, and right off the bat."

Shouto looked over to Momo in alarm, and the memory of their conversation from the morning came bubbling to the surface. Momo smirked, looking back at him and returning his gaze head on.

"Hey, you guys!" Ochako's voice came, startling everyone. The four of them looked over to see the brunette with Midoriya and Kaminari trailing close behind her. "Are we all ready?" The three of them walked up to the group, which made everyone present and accounted for.

"Yup," Kyouka nodded, sauntering over to Ochako and throwing an arm around her. "Say, Uraraka, where're we going?"

"Oh, didn't Momo-chan tell you?" Ochako asked, glancing over to Momo with a curious look.

"Was I supposed to?" Momo asked, rubbing her cheek sheepishly. "Sorry."

"It's okay!"

"The All Might," Kaminari cut in, answering for Ochako and jabbing Kyouka's elbow. "No wonder someone like you didn't figure it out."

"What's that supposed to mean, coming from you?"

"Oi!"

" _Guys,"_ Bakugou said, his voice forceful and crude. "Let's just hurry the fuck up. I'm hungry."

"You're always hungry," Shouto muttered, but it was only loud enough for Momo to hear. She bit back her laugh, not wanting to cause another pointless scene. He noticed her look. "What? It's a fact."

"I bet it is," she snickered, looking back towards the road in front of them. The sun was fairly low in the sky, and she knew that it wouldn't set for another hour or so. This shindig would last for a lot longer than that.

"Shouto-kun," she heard Midoriya's voice behind them. Looking over her shoulder, she saw the green haired boy with his eyebrows furrowed, looking at Shouto. She felt his shoulders hunch from besides her, but she didn't know why. Wasn't Midoriya one of his best friends?

"Not here, Izuku," she heard him whisper.

"But I wanted to know if you found-"

"Later."

Realizing she was constricting him from talking about something with his friend, Momo glanced up at Shouto.

"It's okay, I can go talk to Kyo or something," she said, knowing she was the problem.

He didn't look at her. "No, no it's fine. Just something stupid."

"Alright." Momo tilted her head down so she was staring at her shoes, an uneasy expression clouding over her facial features. They walked in silence after that, though she didn't blame herself for it. Midoriya was still next to them, but by now even he was talking to Ochako about something.

She mentally groaned, not at all liking the awkwardness in the air.

"Hey, we're here!" Kaminari yelled, and Momo realized that he, Bakugou, and Kyouka were way ahead of them.

"C'mon, slowpokes!" Kyouka shouted right after.

Leaning forwards, Momo exchanged a glance with Ochako. The short brunette grinned evilly at her, both of them looking towards Shouto and Midoriya. The boys stared back at them in confusion, but not before Momo and Ochako gently tapped their shoulders, breaking into a run ahead of them.

"Last one to touch Bakugou's a rotten tomato!" Ochako grinned, racing ahead of them.

Momo heard Bakugou swear violently at her friend, just before feeling a slight breeze on her left side. Gasping, she saw that Shouto was right besides her within seconds, running calmly. Judging by his expression, this pace was merely a jog for him.

"How did you…"

"My father used to train me when I was a child," he said, shrugging nonchalantly. "I'm used to this."

Her gaze narrowed when she saw that Ochako and Midoriya were besides her as well, barely catching the victorious smirk plastered over Shouto's face.

"What?" she snapped as they caught up to the group ahead of them.

"Oh, nothing," Shouto said, though he hadn't smiled yet.

He hadn't really smiled in front of her, now that she thought about it.

"I win!" Ochako yelled before she trampled onto Bakugou's leg, clutching it with all her might. The blonde boy gaped at the girl hanging off of his foot, though the feeling was short lived when Momo too pounced onto his shoulders.

Midoriya and Shouto hung back, watching in amusement as Bakugou got run over by the two girls. When Momo looked back at them, she wasn't at all surprised to see Shouto looking at something on his phone, showing it to the shorter boy. They were talking under their breaths, so she couldn't make out what they were saying.

The scene made her remember what she needed to do regarding her mother. She glanced down at her own phone sticking out of her back pocket. She needed to call her mother soon to tell her she still hadn't found a trace of the Todoroki kid.

"Let's go inside," Ochako said, releasing her hold on Bakugou's leg and standing up, dusting off her clothes. "I made a reservation with Tsuyu-chan."

"Tsuyu-chan?" Momo asked as they walked into the restaurant.

"She's a marine biology major at UAversity," Ochako explained. "She has a part time job here as a waitress."

"Oh, I know Tsu-chan," Midoriya said when Ochako gave her information to one of the hosts that took care of finding reservations. "I met her yesterday."

"I heard," Ochako answered. She beckoned for the group to follow her, leading them to a corner circular booth with a short girl standing next to it. As Momo slid into the booth, the girl, who had a head of long green hair, put plates onto the table for the seven of them.

"I'm Tsuyu Asui, kero," she said, bowing low. She looked over to Ochako and Midoriya. "Ochako-chan, Midoriya-chan."

"Tsuyu-chan!" Ochako grinned, holding out her hand to point towards everyone. "You already know Bakugou-kun and Deku-kun, but this is Fukasu Shouto, Kurieiti Momo-chan, Jirou Kyouka, and Kaminari Denki. Guys, Tsuyu-chan prefers to be addressed by her first name."

Momo knew Tsuyu was going to be friendly.

"Nice to meet you all, kero," Tsuyu said. "What would everyone like, kero kero?"

As everyone ordered, Momo took out her phone, ignoring Shouto's apparent stare in her direction.

The first thing she saw were two messages from her mother.

 _Mother: Any news?_

 _Mother: Any news that's worth mentioning?_

She groaned, knowing she couldn't ignore it for too long.

 _Momo Kurieiti: nothing._

 _Mother: Momo, are you even taking this seriously?_

 _Momo Kurieiti: yes, mother. i'm out with my friends right now._

She didn't get an answer, and she didn't exactly expect one. A warm hand brushed her side, making her turn to see Shouto staring down at the phone in her hands, his face knotted into an uncomfortable frown. Quickly, Momo clicked her phone shut, tossing it into her bag and coughing.

"It's rude to stare," she whispered quietly so that no one else could hear her.

Blinking rapidly, he lifted his eyes to look at her. Momo met his stare, silently telling him to drop it. He had clearly seen the conversation with her mother, and she could only hope he wouldn't bring it up out loud.

"Sorry," he muttered, his eyes flickering down to his lap before they redirected themselves to look at Kaminari, who was currently telling a story. She was relieved he had left it at that.

"-and obviously, I wasn't expecting that, so when I heard the noise, I was like-" Kaminari was saying.

"You must have cried like a baby," Kyouka snickered, covering her mouth with the back of her right hand.

"Hey!" he said, annoyed. "And excuse me, but I actually went over to help them clean up the mess."

"And then you cried like a baby," she responded easily.

"For the last time, I did _not cry like a baby!"_

"Is what you want us to think."

"Is what I want you to believe!"

"Believe? That word alone implies that you're lying."

"I didn't cry like a baby, Jirou!"

" _Enough,"_ Bakugou cut in, silencing the two bickering people cold. "I don't have time to listen to you two argue about pointless shit! Shut the fuck up!"

Momo snickered, watching in amusement as both Kyouka and Kaminari crossed their arms, holding their heads high and looking away from each other.

"A-anyway," Midoriya said, his voice trembling at Bakugou's forceful words. "What major are you, Kurieiti-san?"

"3D art," Momo replied, glad that the topic of the conversation had changed. "What about you, Midoriya-san?"

"Psychology," he said, his expression twisting into one of determination.

Momo's eyes widened at the unique major, wondering what made the boy take it. Judging just by how he held himself when talking about his interest showed his excitement for the subject.

"Oh, wow," she said, her voice low and almost breathy. "That's really interesting, actually." Momo placed her elbows onto the table, leaning forward so she could better look at him. "What field of psychology are you into? Why did you take it?" She had so many questions, and her excitement for getting answers was overtaking her in a thrilling way. At times like this, she didn't care to keep her inner geek private.

"I want to help people," he replied without hesitance. He looked down at his hands, smiling at them. "When I was younger, people told me I had a knack for that sort of thing, so I guess I just decided to go for it."

From besides her, Shouto sucked in a breath. "He helped me," he admitted quietly. Everyone turned to him, making him cower away. "I mean… yeah."

Midoriya's lips twisted awkwardly. "That was nothing. I'm glad I could do it for you."

Momo didn't miss Shouto tense up besides her.

"I was the one who pushed him into majoring it," Shouto continued, now addressing the entire table properly in his regular voice. "I'm glad it worked."

To say Momo was impressed was an understatement. She looked up at Shouto, her eyes trailing over to the left side of his face where the large red mark boldly sat. She briefly wondered if Midoriya's therapy was regarding the scar. That is, if it really wasn't natural like she thought.

"Hmm," she murmured. "Wow."

"Uh, Kacchan? Are you… okay?" Midoriya said, which made Momo tilt her head to see Bakugou, who was glaring at the table evenly, his breath puffing out in long strides.

"'Kacchan'?" Momo whispered, looking over to Shouto who undoubtedly held the answer to why Midoriya called Bakugou in that much of a familiar manner.

"They're childhood friends," Shouto answered. "Not exactly the closest when they were younger, had an… _interesting_ relationship."

"I see," she responded, just as Tsuyu came back with their food. As the large plates were set onto the table, Momo allowed her mind to spin and wander off. The reminder that her mother was waiting for some sort of acknowledgement from her was still stuck in the back of her mind, but for now, she decided to focus on her new friends. It was clear that she and Midoriya would get along just fine, and it was also clear that she would soon learn to tolerate Bakugou just like the rest of them did. Not that she particularly minded him.

So, without another word, she settled for picking up her utensils and poking through her food, not at all bothered enough to notice the glances she kept receiving from the boy to her right.

…

Kyouka and Bakugou did not get along, and this was becoming more and more apparent during the time when everyone had to go home. Since Momo, Shouto, Kyouka, and Bakugou lived in the same building, it was decided that they would take the bus back to their apartment together.

Bad idea.

"I don't care about your fucking sleep habits!" Bakugou was saying on the ride back. "If I want to get out of bed, I will get out of bed."  
"You can get out of bed without walking into the damn hallways and causing a ruckus!" she retorted right after. "I have morning classes!"

"Which means you should wake up on time!"

"And you have afternoon classes, which means you should be waking up later!" Kyouka said, groaning. "Honestly, who wakes up at four o'clock in the morning when their first class is at nine?!"

"That's only on weekends! Don't act like you know shit about me!"

"I know you enough to tell that you're freaking insane!"

"Jirou," Shouto said, effectively breaking into their petty argument. "If you think you have it bad, just remember that I live with him."

Momo grinned when her best friend's expression twisted into a pitying frown. "Oh, gosh, Shouto. I feel so bad for you."

"I feel bad for me too," Shouto whispered, but Momo could tell it was in a joking way.

"The fuck's that supposed to mean, Fuck-asu!"

"I told you _not to call me that!"_

Momo groaned. "Oh, Kamisama, why me?"

"Excuse you," Kyouka muttered back to her. "The better question is, why _me?"_

The bus rolled into their stop, prompting the four of them to stumble out in a very unorganized manner, Momo and Kyouka in the front, while Shouto and Bakugou trailed behind them. Playfully, Kyouka bumped her foot to the back of Momo's ankle, giving her a sly smile.

"You were having fun today," she grinned.

Momo smiled. "I was. It's… been a while since the last time I got to go out like that and just relax with people."

Kyouka nodded, understanding. Momo had already told her about the situation with her parents and their attitudes towards her, though, of course, she hadn't told her absolutely everything. Her being a Yaoyorozu and looking for the Todorokis would have to remain confidential, though she _did_ desperately want to tell her about it all.

She couldn't, though. If anyone were to find out, she'd be dead.

As she and Kyouka waved goodbye to the boys and entered their apartment, Momo went straight for her room, sitting down on her bed and taking out her phone, scrolling down to find a response from her mother. She frowned as she read the text that had filtered into her messaging platform about thirty minutes ago.

 _Mother: I'm glad you're out with your friends. Be safe._

Without a second thought, Momo chucked her phone across her bedroom, barely even registering the small crash that sounded when it made contact with the wall on the opposing side.

She closed her eyes, bringing her knees to her chest and hugging them tightly, rocking back and forth on the soft, plush material of her bed's mattress.

She didn't want to do this.

But she had to.

* * *

 **next chapter: tenya iida wants to study and who's texting bakugou?**


	3. Chapter 3: Dumpster Kitties

**ahh so i just got back from my vacation and wanted to post this chapter super quickly before i go to bed.**

 **i didn't say anything about this over on ao3, but ff is my home, so excuse me while i rant for a mere few seconds.  
** **vacation was... honestly, not the best. my family and i actually went to Spain, and we were in Barcelona during the whole incident that happened over there. we're fine, but i could be doing a lot better** **emotionally** **tbh**

 **anyway, i really wanted this chapter to get up to 6.8k so i would break 20k in three chapters, and i did it! *pats self on back* please enjoy! feel free to scream at me because i'm honestly not too proud of this one. XD**

* * *

She didn't know how she got his number.

Literally one minute they were walking back to their apartments together, and the next he was whipping out his phone for her to type in her information. He said something about it being for 'helpful purposes'. That itself didn't make much sense to her, but she went along with it anyway.

"If I need to know the Anatomy homework," was what he had told her, "I won't have to wait until the next morning to get it from you."

"You won't have to get it from me anyway, because you'll learn to actually pay attention in class," she had retorted, though she knew that he paid even more attention than she did.

"Cruel," was his response.

And that was why Momo was currently sitting on her bed, reading the streams of texts coming in through her messaging platform, all from one name: Shouto Fukasu.

 _Shouto: This can actually be useful, you know_

 _Shouto: I won't have to knock down your door if I need something_

 _Momo: you won't be needing anything_

 _Shouto: You really don't know that_

She also learned that he was a fan of double texting.

"Momo! Do you know where that wheel of cheese is? The one we got two days ago?" Kyouka yelled from the kitchen. It was her turn to make dinner, which meant another healthy dose of macaroni and cheese.

"The cheddar?" Momo responded, tearing her eyes away from her phone's screen. "Isn't it in the bottom section of the fridge?"

"Found it!"

She rolled her eyes, turning her attention back to her phone.

 _Shouto: Katsuki's being rude_

 _Shouto: Can you help me_

 _Momo: no thanks_

 _Momo: i'll pass_

 _Shouto: What did I do to deserve you?_

 _Momo: that's my question_

She screamed a fumble "Okay" when Kyouka yelled to her again, telling her that dinner was ready. Scrambling out of her bed, she stepped out of her room, sliding into a seat at the table and grinning wildly at the bowl of mac and cheese set in front of her.

"Looks good," she complimented, taking her fork and digging in.

Kyouka sat down across from her, groaning.

"I expect some high quality sushi tomorrow night."

"You also have high quality expectations," Momo replied without hesitation. "We can't afford luxurious foods like sushi."

"Hngh," Kyouka muttered. "Pretty sure Shouto and Bakugou can."

"You know what," Momo said, a giggle threatening to escape her lips, "you're probably right."

It had been almost two weeks since the beginning of the semester, and the four apartment buddies had become friends of sorts. They weren't the closest of the pack, sure, but they hung out frequently enough to be considered more than just mere acquaintances.

"You wanna go check it out?" Kyouka asked, pushing her own dinner bowl away from her.

Momo grinned. "Oh you know I do."

Well, that settled it. The two girls instantly made their way to their front door, turning right once they got into their floor's hallway. They shot sly glances at each other, and Momo reached her arm up to deliver a hard sequence of knocks to Shouto and Bakugou's front door.

Bakugou answered.

"The fuck?" he greeted them ever so warmly. "What are you two doing here?"

"We're here for dinner," Kyouka answered, crossing her arms.

Bakugou just stared at them.

"Fuck off," he said, moving to shut the door back in their faces.

"Excuse me!" Momo cut in, using her arm to stop the door from closing. "I find it very impolite that you have the nerve to close the door to two beautiful females such as Kyo and I."

"You're shitting me."

"Bakugou, let us in."

"Katsuki, let them in," Shouto's voice came from inside, just before Momo saw his head pop up from behind his roommate's. "I made the dinner, anyway. It should be my choice whether or not we get to share."

"I hate everything," Bakugou muttered, before stepping aside and letting the girls in. Momo and Kyouka exchanged a victorious smirk, which didn't go unnoticed by Bakugou. He scoffed, shutting the door behind them and walking up to the table where everyone else already was.

"What's on the menu?" Kyouka asked, sitting down and dramatically licking her lips.

"Sushi," Shouto replied, taking out two more plates out from one of the many cupboards.

"I knew it!" both Momo and Kyouka yelled simultaneously.

"Living the luxurious life, I see," Momo muttered, graciously accepting the plate Shouto held out for her. It was already filled with food, and finally being able to eat something new for dinner made her heart pound excitedly.

"What's luxurious about sushi?" Bakugou said, as if it was a bad thing. "It's all we ever fucking eat."

"Better than macaroni and cheese seven times a week," Kyouka said pointedly.

Both boys cringed at that.

"Every single day?" Shouto asked.

"You heard correctly," Momo said.

"Then you're welcome to come over for dinner any time you'd like," he continued, ignoring the incredulous look he was receiving from his roommate.

"Like hell we're-"

"Any time," Shouto interrupted, nodding at the two of them briskly.

"Fuck you, Shouto. I'm hungry too."

"And you can take all of Katsuki's share as well."

"Someone please fucking stab me."

"With pleasure. Would you prefer the butter knife or the kitchen knife?"

Bakugou didn't answer, instead throwing his plate across the table, grabbing his phone, and slamming his fists onto the cool wood of the platform.

As he stomped away to what looked like his room, Momo and Kyouka giggled.

"Is he always like that?" Momo asked, still smiling widely.

Shouto blinked. "Kurieiti, you _have_ met Katsuki before, right?"

"Well, I would have imagined he was a little nicer to his own roommate," she shrugged. "Especially when he's in his own apartment. With guests.

"I wish," Shouto muttered.

The two of them laughed at that, before Kyouka spoke up.

"Oh, did you guys hear about the plan for tomorrow?" she asked, putting a rice ball into her mouth and chewing slowly. Momo glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. What plan was she referring to? She hadn't heard anything from her about it.

"Plan?" Shouto asked, his eyebrow raising as he too took a seat across from Momo with his own plate of sushi. "What plan?" Momo turned to Kyouka, anxiously awaiting a response from her.

"Kaminari just texted me. Apparently we're all having a group study session in the library during free block tomorrow."

"We… we are?" Momo asked, blinking rapidly. "I didn't know about this."

"Midoriya proposed it," Kyouka said. "Said something about exam season being in a few months anyway."

"Who's invited?" Momo questioned.

"Us three, Bakugou, Midoriya, Uraraka, and Kaminari."

"Fun."

"Oh," Shouto said, nodding, "that plan. Izuku told me about it earlier today."

"And you didn't bother telling us?" Momo asked in a complete joking manner. Thankfully, he didn't seem to take it seriously at all.

"You never asked," was all he said, before the table of three fell into a comfortable silence, the only noise coming from their chewing and chopsticks tapping at their plates.

…

 _Shouto: Do you need a ride to the library?_

 _Momo: ?_

 _Shouto: What_

 _Momo: we're already on campus?_

 _Shouto: Your sculpting class and the library are on opposite ends of campus_

 _Shouto: My class is on the way_

 _Shouto: It's no problem, really_

 _Momo: oh. then yes. yes i do_

 _Shouto: Can Katsuki come?_

 _Momo: …_

 _Momo: no_

 _Shouto: Thank god_

…

The library of UAversity was, in one word, ginormous. It was three stories tall, standing proud on the far east end of the college's campus. The first two floors were filled with school books and textbooks for assignments and studying usage, the third was general fiction, and the fourth was lined with tables and computers for student use. Books glistened in their respective places, paying no mind to the pristine wood shelves that housed them. It was every book-loving person's dream come true.

Momo and Shouto entered the library, immediately stepping back in awe to admire the sheer beauty of the building.

"Holy crap," Momo muttered, her eyes feeling like they were going to pop out of her skull. "Holy crap this is huge."

"I knew it was big, but this is a lot," Shouto whispered right back, and the two of them made their way to the elevators that would take them to the fourth floor. Ochako had texted Momo earlier that they would be working on one of the larger desks specifically designed for group study sessions, and Momo, not knowing exactly what that meant, had just replied with a vague 'okay'.

The ride upstairs was silent, filled only with the steady drumming of Shouto's fingers on the back railing they were leaning against. Momo kept shooting short glances up at his face, but his expression was twisted into an unreadable frown.

"You know," she said, wanting to make idle conversation and end the silence, "you didn't really have to drive me here."

"I wanted to." The reply was instant.

The doors of the elevator opened, drowning out anything Momo was planning on saying after that. Not that she was going to say anything, though.

"Momo-chan! Wait, who's with- Shouto?" Ochako's voice called out to them once they stepped out, her voice stopping when she watched the two of them emerge from the elevator. Momo watched Ochako's smile as it widened happily. "Ah! We were wondering where you two were."

With a quick glance around the room, Momo realized that everyone, even Kyouka, had already arrived. They were all currently leaning over stacks of textbooks and scribbling notes into their notebooks.

"Sorry," Shouto answered for the both of them. "We drove here. Had to park the car."

Momo slipped her bag off of her shoulder, going to one of the two empty seats and slipping into it. Kyouka, who was now sitting next to her, nudged her elbow with a playful grin.

"You came here in his car, eh?" she said, her eyebrows shooting upwards.

She rolled her eyes. "Honestly. It isn't that big of a deal."

As Shouto took the last remaining empty seat, which was sandwiched in between Midoriya and Bakugou, Momo opened up her own notebooks from her classes, glancing his way again to see Bakugou saying something to him. Shouto's ears burned red and his lips moved to form an 'o' shape, while Midoriya laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Hey Kurieiti," Kaminari offered lazily, swiftly waving his hand upwards in her direction. "How're your classes like?" He was attempting random conversation, which she appreciated greatly. It would help take her mind off of whatever Bakugou could have said to his roommate.

"Tiring," Momo responded, smiling. "It's… it's bearable though."

Everyone turned to look at her, their eyes boring into her skull.

"What do you mean?" Ochako asked.

Her cheeks reddened, realizing her little slip-up. Of course, the pressure her mother sent in every single day through her vague text messages did a number to her anxiety, but she wasn't about to tell her new friends about that. She didn't want to burden any of them with her stupid problems.

"N-no! It's just… it's just that my… I-I have a-"

"I think," Midoriya spoke up, cutting her words out cold and eyeing her face closely, "what Kurieiti-san's trying to say, is that she just isn't used to college-level classes yet." He paused, even if only for a short moment. "Am I right, Kurieiti-san?"

 _Psychology major._

The words rung in her head as she nervously nodded, biting her lip and not willing herself to look back at Midoriya.

"Shut up, Deku," Bakugou snorted, glaring at him. He turned to Ochako. "Uraraka, tell him to shut up."

"Deku-kun, don't listen to him!"

"Why you…!"

"Kacchan… Uraraka-san was just-"

"I know what she was doing! Shut up, Deku!"

"Bakugou-kun!"

It was then when Momo noticed Bakugou's phone, held tightly in his fist and displaying a recent text that was just filtering into the app. She saw the device vibrate, prompting him to quickly glance down and stare at the screen. When he started typing, she looked to his right to lock eyes with Shouto. She raised her eyebrows, jutting her head in Bakugou's direction. Shouto took one look at his roommate, before turning back to her and shrugging halfheartedly.

Alright, Shouto, be that way.

She mentally hmphed.

There was a quiet rustling in the background. Everyone turned to see where it was coming from, and when they did, there was a multitude of mixed reactions. While Momo, Kyouka, Kaminari, and Bakugou tilted their heads curiously at the unfamiliar individual standing in front of them, Midoriya, Shouto, and Ochako's heads shot up in surprise.

"Iida-kun?"

"Iida?"

"Iida-kun!"

The boy was tall, and Momo wouldn't have been surprised if he was a sophomore or a junior, but by the way her three friends addressed him, he was probably a freshman just like the rest of them. The boy, Iida, pushed his glasses up on his face, before speaking.

"This is a _library,"_ were the first words that came out of his mouth. "Please respect the people around you who are trying to study." He glanced at them. "Oh. Shouto, Uraraka, Midoriya. Good to see you."

"Likewise," Midoriya responded, his smile widening. "Iida-kun, come sit with us!"

Surprisingly, the boy complied. He pulled up a chair and slid between Midoriya and Ochako, a thick textbook still resting in his hands. Shouto gave him his regular small smile as Iida turned to the rest of them, nodding.

"Tenya Iida. Accounting major," he said. "I'm also an athlete of sorts. I run."

Momo, along with the rest of them, grinned back at him. It was a rare pair, business and track, but Momo could tell this boy was going to be an overall interesting person to hang around with. That is, if he ended up in whatever friend group this was.

She had a feeling he would.

"Momo Kurieiti," she said as her introduction. "3D art major. I have a minor in atomic physics."

"Kyouka Jirou. Composition major, theory minor."

"Denki Kaminari! Electromagnetic physics major."

"Katsuki Bakugou. Chem." Iida shot him a weird look, which Bakugou returned with a shrug and a "I like exploding things."

"All respectable majors, yes," Iida acknowledged, almost as if he was completely ignoring Bakugou's initial statement. "It's good to meet you all. You too, Bakugou."

"Iida-kun worked at a grocery store we frequented back in high school," Ochako explained, running her index finger across the spine of the book she was reading. "We never really saw him outside of that, though."

"I didn't know you went to UAversity, Iida," Shouto said, setting his textbook down and leaning on his elbows, which were currently propped up on the table. "It's… it's nice to see you so soon after our departure."

"A pleasure," Iida replied. He turned to Midoriya. "Midoriya. I told you about my coming to this university. Didn't you relay the message to the others?"

"I thought you had told them yourself," Midoriya replied, scratching the back of his neck nervously. "I'm so sorry! I should have known better! I'd have thought that Shouto-kun would have gone back to get his cold soba like he did every week and Uraraka-san with her fudge cookies, but I guess I was mistaken and I was the only one to go back to get my things and you probably hate me for not telling your closest friends about that, but…"

Momo tuned out, watching in amusement as Shouto gently placed a hand on Midoriya's shoulder, telling him he was going into a mumbling frenzy. Again. Apparently this was a regular thing for the boy, so she wasn't shook off when the others had similar reactions to hers: sheepish laughs and friendly shrugs. Save for Bakugou, of course, who instead just scoffed and looked away.

"Right, well," Iida started again, "that's alright. I was just looking for a book for an essay I have due in a few weeks."

"Fun," Kaminari commented, clicking his tongue and turning to a random page in the textbook that was sitting in his lap. Momo looked down at her own book, which was currently displaying a picture of a human female figure sculpted out of clay. She grimaced, flipping to another page and settling on looking at a tree figure.

"Don't like humans?" Kyouka questioned, looking over her shoulder and peeking at the book. Her own textbook laid next to her on the table; by this point it was completely forgotten.

Momo sighed. "No, it isn't that. Humans are just a little more… complex." By complex, she meant real freaking hard. Whenever Momo attempted to sculpt, or even _draw,_ a human, she'd instantly mess up on something like simple anatomy.

"Aren't they a requirement, though?" Kyouka's voice cut into her thoughts.

"Yeah, they are," Momo muttered, her shoulders suddenly feeling a little heavier than normal, "they're just a little difficult. That's all. Especially females." Females were the _worst._ Their faces were too narrow and their chins were slightly more pointed than a male figure. Being a 3D artist, one would expect Momo to be able to work around these small inaccuracies with ease, but she would much rather prefer building objects with a more… stable shape.

"Hm," Kyouka hummed, reaching her hand out to Momo's textbook, smoothly flipping back to the page with the human drawing on it. "Doesn't look too bad. You definitely have the skills to do it, don't you think?"

"My 'skills' are nonexistent, Kyo." A small stab went to her chest as she said the words, knowing how much truth was held in them.

"Excuse me, I take that as an insult to myself."

Momo giggled finally, glancing back down at the figure study. "You know, if I had some clay or something, I could probably try my hand at this. Maybe." Kyouka would probably leave it at that. Momo knew her best friend would let her go when she thought she had had enough of the teasing and banter.

She watched as Kyouka studied her face evenly, before she turned back around to the rest of the group, exclaiming with glee, "Yo, does anyone have any clay or anything?"

Momo groaned, putting her face in her hands. Why didn't she expect that? Besides, who even had something like clay on them at this time? If anything, she should be asking for soap.

"Clay? Why?" Ochako asked.

Kyouka grinned. "Momo wants to try sculpting something."

Everyone slightly gaped at Momo, making her cower back in fear.

"G-guys!" she exclaimed, embarrassment clearly showing on her face. "Honestly! I _am_ an art major, you know!"

"Hmm, you could probably ask downstairs," Midoriya suggested. "You never know what they might have."

"And if not," Iida cut in, "they may be able to direct you to a place that does have what you're requesting." His tone portrayed his doubt that they would have the clay, which just raised Momo's sudden respect for him. He thought logically, which was something she appreciated.

Momo nodded. "Thanks," she said, grabbing her phone and slipping it into her back pocket. "I'll be back in a bit."

The others nodded, prompting her to get up and walk over to the elevator. If she did go and ask for clay or any building material, it was unlikely a place like the library would supply it. Then again, knowing this university, she could never be _too_ sure. She'd just have to ask for soap like she thought.

"Wait."

Momo raised an eyebrow at the familiar voice, turning back to see Shouto taking his own phone in his hand and walking up to her.

"I have to get something too," he said, coughing awkwardly and glancing out to the rest of them. "Can I come with you?" This time, his question was directed at Momo.

She almost faltered, but thankfully caught herself in time. "Sure." He'd be quick, she concluded. She wasn't sure if he wanted to go back to his apartment, or somewhere on the other end of the campus, but she hoped what he was looking for resided somewhere locally, like a block or two away from the library, or, better yet, inside the library itself.

And that was that. Momo ignored the weird looks they got from the others as they entered the library's elevator, the doors closing shut behind them. Shouto reached out, pressing the button that would take them to the first floor.

"What did you need?" she asked as they leaned back on the hard, clear glass walls. Shouto blinked up at her, his face twisting into one of discomfort. It was confusing, the way he suddenly quieted down after making such a bold exit only moments earlier. She could only guess it was because of nerves or something.

"I…" His movements were clicky. Unpredictable. "I want to show you something."

"What?"

"We can go there later. Let's get your clay first."

"Ah…" She looked away. "Right. The clay."

As if she was that readable, he raised a tentative eyebrow. "Is something wrong? You didn't seem that keen about all of this when Jirou was talking to you either."

"You were listening to that?" Momo asked, suddenly embarrassed. That, of course, meant had also heard the pointless things she had said about her skill-level and minimum confidence in it.

"Our seats weren't too far from each other," he said pointedly, instead of stressing on it.

She gulped. "It's nothing."

He cast her one last look, but Momo knew he wasn't going to ask about it again. Something told her he was familiar with a thing or two about personal space and privacy. It didn't seem like he was really one to reveal a lot after only a few weeks of knowing someone either.

If she told him anything, it would be her fault. She didn't want to get him caught up in all her petty little problems.

When the elevator doors opened, Momo was first to step out, not looking back once towards her partner. She knew he was there, of course. His breathing was even and loud enough to hear in the quiet setting of the library.

She approached the front desk tentatively, as if not fully understanding what she was doing.

"Uh… hi," she greeted the man working behind the counter. He was tall and lean. A head of long, dark black hair sat atop his head and he wore a scarf that was lazily wrapped around his neck multiple times, and he gave off a general vibe of ' _I don't care'._ She read his nametag, which read a simple _Shouta Aizawa._

"I was about to sleep," the librarian said, his gaze not flickering once. "Make this quick."

She gulped. "A-Aizawa-sensei," she started. "Would you happen to have some kind of building structure?"

"What?" Aizawa questioned, his eyebrow raising curiously.

"Like, clay? Soap?"

Soap. He was going to say something about soap.

"You can go to the bathroom for soap."

Aha.

"The bathroom," Momo repeated. "Yeah. Why didn't I think of that."

"I don't know what kind of soap you're looking for," Aizawa said. "Though I'm pretty sure there's bar soap in the men's bathroom, and liquid in the women's." He stopped again. "That's probably right. Recovery Girl told me herself."

Recovery Girl, or her real name, Chiyo Shuzenji, was the nurse at UAversity. Even the students knew how trustworthy she was, so Momo knew better than to doubt what he was saying.

"I… I need bar soap," she muttered.

"Then ask your friend over there to get you some," he responded, gesturing to Shouto who suddenly appeared by her side, shooting her a look.

"Well? Did you get it?" he asked her.

"No. I need to go to the bathroom for soap," Momo said. "But the women's bathroom doesn't have what I'm looking for, apparently." She glanced back at Aizawa, but he was already leaning down and rummaging through a drawer in the desk, pulling out a large yellow bean bag that was undoubtedly going to be used as a sleeping bag. She sighed, not expecting much more from him.

"And the men's?" Shouto asked her, his eyes also trained on the strange librarian, who was now making room for himself to lie down on the floor.

"Aizawa-sensei said there was some in the men's bathroom, yes," Momo said. She bit her lip. "Um… would you mind if… uh…"

He didn't give her a chance to respond, instead nodding and briskly making his way in the direction of the bathrooms. Momo quickly followed closely after, giving Aizawa one last fleeting glance. She wasn't at all surprised to see him now lying straight on his frontside on the floor, his eyes closed and this breath coming out in steady, long strokes.

He was asleep. How anyone could fall asleep so quickly was beyond her, but she didn't bother questioning it.

When she and Shouto approached the bathrooms, Momo hung back, nodding at Shouto when he slipped inside, returning only a few moments later with two bars of soap in his hands. He held them out for her to take in her own grasp.

"Can't guarantee they aren't used, but I looked for the ones that looked like they were the cleanest," he promised, gaining a small smile at her wide grin.

"Thanks." She palmed the soap in her hands, her fingers nimbly pressing at the corners. She watched in delight as the soap bent to her liking. "This is good," she said, taking the second bar and placing it on top of the first one. "I could probably make one figure out of this much soap."

"Good," Shouto said. "If you need any more, I'm happy to get it." An empty pact, probably, but that didn't mean it held any less meaning to it.

"Thank you," she said again. "Really. Thank you."

"It's no problem," came his reply.

It dawned on her then that she didn't know where it would be best to work on her newest personal assignment. She could always go back upstairs to the rest of them, but that meant a very high chance of the sculpture being ruined by something bumping into her, or just out of plain surprise.

Where else could she work? Where else was _quiet?_

"Outside," she blurted out, catching him by surprise. "I think… I think I should work on this outside." Maybe the air would be good for her, too.

He blinked. "Alright. Where?"

"I… I don't know, actually," Momo muttered, her shoulders bunching up uncomfortably. "I'll probably just sit somewhere on the curb or something." When she noticed his bewildered expression, she coughed and then clarified herself. "What I mean is, I could sit by the road, or-"

"I know what you meant." His voice was curt, a low whistling sound beneath it. "If you'd like to be more comfortable, I'm happy to show you somewhere where I usually work. I wanted to show you something anyway, right?"

This was way too cliché for her liking. He couldn't mean he was going to show her his _very special_ place where _only he ever went,_ where they would _secretly go and eat lunch together_ and it would be filled with _flowers_ and _rainbows._

"Alright," she said slowly, not knowing if she really wanted to know where he was about to take her. "Where?"

"The dumpster bins."

Oh.

Oh okay.

…

"You're _kidding_ me." Momo held her nose shut by pinching her index finger and thumb onto the skin, not-very-effectively getting rid of the disgusting smell coming from every direction.

"I know this might not be much to your liking," Shouto said from ahead of her. Unlike her, he seemed perfectly fine with the fumes, which made no sense to her.

"Might?" she grumbled. "You work in the garbage? How do you find this at all pleasing?"

"It isn't the trash cans," he replied, finally stopping in front of the last bin. He looked over his shoulder at her, lifting his finger to rest on his parched lips. "It's more of… what's _inside_ the trash cans."

"Trash?"

"No. You need to think outside of the box."

"The trash boxes?"

"That was unnecessary."

The bars of soap felt heavy in Momo's hands as she reluctantly approached the bins, not at all liking the nasty situation she was in. Shouto beckoned for her to look inside the huge bin.

"You're… you're not serious," she started, slowly and unsure. "You're going to make me look _inside_ one of these?"

She was raised as a proper woman. Messing around in unclean places like this wasn't something she was supposed to be doing. If her parents found out about this, they would surely give her a mighty scolding. A meek shiver ran down her spine as she thought about her mother hitting her for even being _around_ the trash bins. Heck, her mother would probably tell her off for hanging out with people who weren't of similar status to her.

Shouto, of course, was included in that.

The name 'Todoroki' resurfaced, reminding her that she still had to be on the lookout for the boy. Somehow. She couldn't back out of it now, though. All the files were already sitting in her bedroom, holding only the most minimal information.

"Come on, Kurieiti," Shouto cut into her thoughts. She gaped up at him. "It isn't like you're rebelling against your parents or something. It really isn't that bad."

But she was. At least, in a way.

And it suddenly felt so good.

She nodded once, leaning forwards on the balls of her feet, stepping over the dumpster and peeking inside. She had already unplugged her nose, which made the smell only that much worse.

She looked inside, but she could never have expected what she found to be there.

Her eyes widened as she let out a surprised yelp, looking over to Shouto who was staring at her with a smirk plastered across his face. He walked up to her, reaching into the trash can and picking up what was resting inside.

A cat. A small cat had been _sleeping_ inside the dirty bin.

Momo's heart panged at the thought of the homeless kitty.

"You… you…" she started, unable to form words.

Shouto glanced up at her, now openly petting the feline.

"I found her during the first week of school when I was dragged into exploring the campus grounds with Izuku," he explained. "Izuku doesn't know about him, though. I came back later to care for him.

"You… he looks like you." Her finishing statement left him staring at her dumbly. She watched as his eyes darted down to the kitten, his breath sucking in once he ran his vision over the cat's body. While it's right side was a pure white color, it's left was spotted with light shades of orange.

"I…" Shouto muttered, clearly lost for words. "This wasn't supposed to happen."

She giggled at that, liking the way she suddenly had some sort of an upper hand on him.

"You should name him after yourself," she continued, rubbing salt into the wound. His bewildered expression made it completely and utterly worth it in the end, though.

"I suddenly don't like you very much anymore," he replied, staring down at the cat in his arms. "What would his name be, anyway?"

"Sho? Asu? Fuka? To-"

"Stop."

She let out another strangled laugh.

"Well, then, what do you want to name him?"

Momo sucked in a breath when his facial expression became more serious. The creaks in his small, lighthearted smile turned upside down and his eyelids drooped even more than they already did. Her lips clamped down on each other as she watched his thoughtful face consider her question, as if it were the one problem with the highest point value on a final exam.

"Todo," he said finally. "Todo. I'd like to name him Todo."

The instant he said that, blood rushed to her cheeks. The name 'Todo' reminded her an awful lot of 'Todoroki', and having a cat she knew she'd be seeing a lot more after this being named like that brought a somewhat unsettling feeling in her stomach.

As if sensing this, Shouto raised a tentative eyebrow at her.

"Do you not like the name?" he asked, his face scrunching up into a small frown. Momo quickly shook her head, not wanting him to feel discouraged for naming his cat something she didn't like for her own personal reasons.

"No no," she said, smiling softly, "it's a lovely name, really. It just… I thought you said something else for a second there."

He nodded, his gaze averting away from her face. Momo felt the loss of eye contact almost immediately, but definitely knew better than to act on it.

"I see."

His mouth was drawn into a thin line, as if he was also reconsidering the name choice he had picked out. Not that she minded it too much now, really. Momo guessed it was more of an in-the-moment feeling. Besides, she couldn't do that to Shouto. He found the cat, so it only made sense that he got to name it.

"Right, well, would Todo like to help me sculpt the figure of a female human?" she said, putting her hands on her knees and leaning forwards so she could properly address the cat.

Todo mewled, suddenly waking from his slumber and twisting in Shouto's arms to swipe his claw at Momo's face. She glanced up, pleasantly surprised to see a tiny smile gracing Shouto's lips.

"I'll take that as a yes, then," she teased, placing her forefinger on Todo's chin and scratching gently. Then, she addressed Shouto. "Are you sure it's okay to be petting him? He was… in a dumpster."

"It's fine," Shouto said, waving her doubt away. "I cleaned him up the first day I found him using the sink in my apartment."

She quirked her eyebrows. "Why didn't you just keep him there, then?"

"No pet policy, remember?"

Oh, that was right. Momo briefly recalled Kyouka being sour about the rule when she found out she wasn't able to bring her pet snake to their new apartment when the two of them had first rented it. If she was being honest, Momo was relieved that the rule was set in place. There was no way she'd be comfortable with living in the same room as a snake.

"I forgot about that," she admitted, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly. "Still, why here? Couldn't you have just left him somewhere else a little more cleaner?"

"Kurieiti," he began, not looking up from Todo. "It was either being left in the open, prone to any sorts of weird strangers and unpredictable weather, or here, in a place that _is_ a little dirty, but still away from horrible, watchful eyes."

"You're awfully protective of it."

Shouto's gaze narrowed. "He isn't an _it._ He's a _he."_

"Of course it is."

" _He."_

"It."

"You are disrespecting him."

"I'm done with this."

Momo lowered herself onto the hard curb next to the dumpster they were currently standing in front of, finally allowing her hands to play with the soap that still resided in them.

"Hm…" she muttered. "I need a reference."

"Hold on for a second," she heard Shouto say as she pressed her fingers to the crack in between the two bars, molding them together. The next thing she knew, he was holding his phone to her face, a picture of a female clay figure decorating the screen.

She blinked back her surprise, graciously accepting the offer.

"Thanks," she said, setting the phone down besides her and clicking the screen for a better resolution.

She barely even noticed when he sat down next to her, drumming his fingers idly on his lap. Her gaze flickered to him as she began to shape the soap into an oval, suddenly feeling self-conscious. And why wasn't it shaping up to the way she wanted it? What was wrong… oh.

"W-water," she muttered, her hands freezing on the soap. "I need water."

He instantly made a move to get up. "I can get some for you. There's a convenience store on campus that's just a block away and-"

"No!" she quickly denied, shaking her head roughly. "No, that's okay. You've already done a lot for this stupid practice project. You don't need to do any more."

His lips twisted into his regular frown. "I really don't mind." He wasn't going to let up, and she knew it. Sighing, she resolved to her last option.

"You'll hurt my pride if you go."

He snapped towards her, his mouth slightly open and wide eyes present. If she was being honest, she wasn't sure if speaking of her pride would help her case or not, but she was more than willing to give it a try.

There was no need for him to keep helping her like this. Not when she didn't have anything to lose in exchange.

"You… hm," his voice stopped, trailing off into nothing.

"It's fine," she said, waving her hand in his face. "Really. I can get it myself. A woman's pride is a very delicate matter, you know." She played her tone off as playful, friendly, and thankfully, it seemed to be working.

"I do know, believe me," he replied, curling his knees up to his chest and smiling at the concrete ground. "My-" he stopped for just a moment before continuing. "My sister. She's a very prideful person. She even defied someone like my father to keep it."

And suddenly, Momo wasn't so sure she liked this conversation much anymore.

"Not that it matters," he quickly added, as if sensing her discomfort. "But alright. If you'd prefer me staying out of this, I won't object."

No. No that wasn't what she meant at all. On the contrary, she loved his help. She also loved this small window of free time she had with him. He wasn't like Kyo, or her other friends. He was… soft. He didn't tease her like everyone else did, and he didn't ask too many questions either.

He was perfect for someone like her to just talk to without thinking of any restrictions. The only restrictions she _could_ think of was their on-and-off awkward banter, and his painfully infuriating smirks.

He wasn't like Ochako, or Midoriya, or Kaminari, or… Bakugou.

 _Bakugou._

"By the way," she said, setting the soap down. She'd continue working on it later, but for now, she wanted to ask Shouto something. "Do you know who Bakugou was texting?"

Shouto tilted his head curiously. "I was trying to look back in the library," he admitted, "but he hid his screen from my view once he noticed."

"Hmm," she mumbled, her internet spiked. "I was just wondering because he doesn't really seem like the type to be texting friends for fun?"

"That's true," Shouto agreed, their knees bumping each other's ever so slightly. He didn't seem to notice, though, which made the awkwardness level fade from her mind. "Even his texts with me are usually just asking if I can make dinner, or when I'll be home so I can help him find something."

"I remember," she suddenly said, "he had called you on the first day of school for something like that, right?"

"Right," he said, nodding affirmatively. "He wanted to know where his hairbrush was."

"That's…" Weird? Trivial? "... surprising."

"I never really did understand why he decided to keep his hair spiky like that," Shouto continued. "If it were me, I'd just let it down straight."

"His hair isn't naturally like that?"

He almost snorted. _Almost._ "Tell me that once you've witnessed him in front of the mirror in the morning. We run out of hair gel every single week."

She cringed. "Ouch?"

"Mhm. Especially when the money for it comes out of my pocket."

She stopped, shooting him a grin. "Yeah? Why don't you let him pay for it?"

"I owe him." The reply was simple, and Momo wasn't sure if that meant he was open to elaborating. "Back in high school," he started again, answering her internal question, "we participated in this sports festival-like event and were matched for sparring. I… I let him win."

Momo wasn't stupid. She had seen Bakugou's body firsthand the day she had met him properly. To say he was ripped was a horrible understatement.

If Shouto had _let him win,_ what the heck did that make him?!

"A-are you serious?" she gulped, knowing he didn't understand the implications of her statement, which was good.

"Katsuki's a really prideful person too," he said, his voice lower than it was just a few seconds ago, "so he was pretty mad. When we moved in together, I promised to buy him his hair gel to make up for it." He paused. "Let's just say that wasn't a very good idea. He goes through bottles of gel the way Kaminari falls for Jirou's harmless tricks."

She laughed. Hard. Giggles erupted from the depths of her stomach, causing her to almost fall over at the petty reference to the strange friendship between Kyouka and Kaminari. "I feel so sorry for you," she managed to wheeze out when she quieted down.

"Was it really that funny?" Shouto grumbled, but Momo could tell by his voice that he was heavily amused as well.

"Yes," she said, "yes it was."

"Hey," he started suddenly, making Momo turn to look at him. She nodded, encouraging him to continue. "You consider us friends at this point, right?"

The question caught her off guard, and made her remember their conversation from the previous week about when it was okay to consider someone a friend. The memory brought a meek smile to her face.

She nodded. "I already told you. I considered you my friend the day I met you."

"I still don't get that."

"You don't have to."

He stalled, shooting a tentative look her way. Todo whisked his paw by his ankle, but he ignored him. "For the record," he began, "I consider us friends too."

She couldn't help the grin from erupting onto her face, drowning out any other emotions that may have been surfacing at the time.

The (now close to melting) bar of soap laid between them, forgotten, as Shouto got up and held out his hand for her to take. She smiled, accepting it and allowing him to pull her off the curb.

Todo growled, obviously not pleased with the new development, scratching both of their legs from his place beneath them. Momo smiled down at him, winking at the feline and then looking back up at Shouto.

He finally admitted to them being friends. _Properly._

Took him long enough.

* * *

 **next chapter: bakugou's acting weird and who's midoriya's roommate?**


	4. Chapter 4: bakuNO

**hiiiii i'm back after a much-needed hiatus from my writing! if you're still reading this, thank you! so! much! hopefully y'all are not too mad at me buutttt here's the next chapter! please enjoy and be sure to tell me what you think!**

* * *

Bakugou was acting weird.

He stopped grumbling whenever Momo and Kyouka went over to his and Shouto's place for dinner, which happened to be every other day. The girls would go over for sushi one day, and the boys would come over to their place for macaroni and cheese the next. It was just expected at this point; there wasn't any questioning it. At the beginning, Bakugou seemed a little… triggered, but now, he looked genuinely okay with taking part in the routine.

Secondly, he had started bringing his textbooks to the table during dinner. They ranged in topics, from mixtures and compounds to calculating measurements of chemicals.

When Momo had asked, he had just responded with a simple, "I actually want to study and graduate, unlike you losers."

That was the next point. He had cut down with swearing in every sentence that came out of his mouth. Shouto was the first one to notice this, of course, and when he had told Momo, she practically spit out her hazelnut coffee. It wasn't every day that _the_ Katsuki Bakugou didn't spout vulgar things just because he felt like it.

"Personally, I think something happened to him," Shouto had said one day when he, Momo, and Midoriya were out for ice cream between classes. "Like, something big. He'd never act like this if it didn't mean something."

"Aren't you his roommate?" Momo responded, raising a brow. "If anything, you should know what's happening to him."

"Kurieiti-san is right, Shouto-kun," Midoriya piped up, licking at his cone with a small frown. "I think you should talk to Kacchan and resolve your issues."

"Issues?" Shouto blinked. "There are no issues."

"Did you do something," Momo deadpanned, eliciting a laugh from Midoriya. When Shouto just stared at her, she sighed. "No, really. Knowing you, you probably did something."

"I didn't do anything," Shouto replied. "I'm actually kind of offended that you think so little of me."

Midoriya's expression suddenly turned thoughtful, his index finger lifting to scratch the bottom of his chin. "You know," he started, "he _has_ been on his phone a lot more recently."

"He's been texting someone," Shouto agreed. "I've been trying to find out who it is, but he refuses to tell me."

"Force it out of him," Momo instantly said. Shouto shot her a bewildered look, to which she shrugged. "It really isn't that hard. Just threaten him a bit and put some harmless blackmail on his name. He's bound to crack." The two boys just stared at her. "Jokes."

"Honestly, Kurieiti-san," Midoriya said, smiling now, "that wasn't funny. No one- not even Kacchan- deserves something like that."

Shouto grunted, taking a small bite out of his ice cream.

"You bite it?" Momo asked, sticking out her tongue and swiping it across the cool surface of the sweet treat. Her eyebrows furrowed when his teeth reached towards the cone again, taking another mouthful.

"Yeah? Doesn't everybody?" he said.

She shook her head. "No. You're supposed to lick it."

"I disagree," he said, his eyes narrowing. "You get more ice cream if you bite."

"You get more flavor if you lick," Momo countered immediately. "Plus, it lasts longer since you're ingesting less at one time."

"Izuku," Shouto said, turning to face said boy. Midoriya jumped up when he was addressed, startled. "Do you lick the ice cream, or do you bite it?"

Momo waited anxiously for his answer, wanting to show up Shouto as she had seen Midoriya lick his ice cream mere minutes earlier. She smirked, her victory practically claimed in her eyes.

"W-well, it depends," Midoriya started. "Sometimes I prefer licking it, like when I want to eat it for longer and it's a really hot day, but other times I bite it since I want to finish it quickly, or if I want to freeze my teeth…" He was going to start rambling any second now, and as if Shouto realized this, he quickly spoke up.

"Uh… ah," he said, breaking into whatever Midoriya was going to say. "Um. Anyway. I will continue to stand by my superior knowledge, and I will keep biting my ice cream."

"Crazy, that's what you are," Momo muttered, unwrapping the plastic protecting the waffle cone. "I will continue to stand by my _more_ superior knowledge, and I will keep licking my ice cream."

"You're insatiable."

"Maybe so."

"Guys," Midoriya groaned, "I think this conversation just took a completely different turn." He paused for their wide eyes to sink in. "Can we go back to Kacchan?"

"Right," Shouto nodded before Momo could say anything. "Katsuki. I have no idea."

"I think," Momo started, "it's because of the person he's been texting." She stopped, considering her own logic. "Maybe he's gotten himself a girlfriend or something?"

Shouto and Midoriya both exchanged a glance. She quirked her eyebrows at them, knowing they were hiding something from her. Midoriya bit his lip nervously, as Shouto just let out a cool sigh.

"Katsuki's into guys," he said, shrugging, "at least, that's what we've concluded."

Midoriya nodded. "Kacchan hasn't really told us about what he prefers. We just all kind of… picked up on it over the years. We could be wrong, though."

Momo made sure her breath didn't halt once as she responded with ease, "a boyfriend, then?"

Nah. She didn't have anything against that. People could like who they wanted to like. It wasn't Momo's problem. If Bakugou was into guys, she'd respect that.

"But you may be right, Kurieiti-san," Midoriya said slowly, "I wouldn't be too surprised if he likes someone."

"Hm, it would definitely explain his recent behavior," Shouto agreed. "Damn. I really need to get into his phone and take a look."

"Then why don't you?" Momo suggested, shooting him a curious look. "You _live with him._ I cannot stress this enough, but if there's anyone who can figure this out, it's _you."_

Midoriya just nodded. "I mean, it isn't really the nicest way you could be going about all of this," he said quickly, "but it's still worth a try! I personally don't think Kacchan will even come close to letting you near his phone, but we can still give it our best shot! Like our old high school professor used to say-"

Shouto suddenly let a small smile leak, as if he was realizing what the green haired boy was going to say.

"Plus ultra!" the two boys exclaimed simultaneously.

"What does that even mean," Momo deadpanned in response. Midoriya and Shouto exchanged a weird glance, resulting in Shouto coughing into his fist awkwardly.

"See, some things you just can't possibly understand," he started in an awfully fake attempt at a sincere voice, "and that's okay." He placed a hand on her shoulder for emphasis. "We can't all be amazingly smart individuals, you know?"

Momo blinked. "Uh. Right." She smirked. "Now who was it that needed help in remembering what the Anatomy homework was again?"

His lips parted slightly, delivering a shaken look towards her.

She nodded, satisfied. "Exactly."

"Guys, we're getting off-topic again," Midoriya cut in, waving his right hand in both of their faces. "Remember? We need to figure out how to get Kacchan to spill."

"Oh," Momo nodded. "Right. Any brilliant ideas in that empty head of yours?" She gently flicked Shouto's head, smiling when he carefully pried her fingers away.

"Well, we definitely need more than just three people," he said.

"Who said I was helping?" Momo asked, crossing her arms. When the two boys gave her bewildered looks (again), she shrugged. "Jokes. I'll help."

"Great," Midoriya said. "Maybe Uraraka-san would like to lend us a hand?"

"Ochako should be able to help," Momo agreed. "I can ask her later."

"Yeah… um…" Midoriya faltered nervously, "it's… uh… yeah, it's probably better if… um… you were to ask her… ask her instead… instead of me."

"What?" Shouto said, raising an eyebrow. "Afraid of Katsuki ripping out your skull?"

"He… Kacchan would n-never!"

"What's up with you two anyway?" Momo asked as the three of them found seats at a nearby bench on campus. "Like, what's with the whole 'Kacchan' and 'Deku'? And why is he more rude to you than the rest of us?"

Midoriya almost groaned. It was like he expected this question coming from Momo sooner or later. "Kacchan and I knew each other back when we were kids. We were neighbors as children and we grew up in the same neighborhood."

Momo bit her lip. "I see. Continue."

"We didn't really get along very well, though," Midoriya said, further proving this by shrugging. "He seemed to not like me very much." He stopped, considering his last words. "We were actually okay with each other before Kacchan found his whole chemistry hobby. He said my want to help people was 'stupid', or something. We kind of disconnected after that."

"You're a psychology major," Momo supplied, "couldn't you two have worked things out? Didn't you work some of that therapy magic on him?"

"Therapy magic?" Midoriya laughed. "No, I don't have any magic. It's just something I like to do and I have a knack for. Kind of. I don't know. You tell me." He glanced over to Shouto, who was looking insanely thoughtful. He reached up to scratch his chin.

"Yeah," he said. "Yeah, you definitely have a knack for it." Shouto turned to Momo. "Thing is, if you ever feel down or something, Izuku is guaranteed to make you feel better, no matter what situation you're in." He paused. "Not only that, but he actually helps you. I would recommend him to anyone."

"High praise," Momo commented, curling her bottom lip outwards and tugging her upper lip in. "Especially coming from Fukasu Shouto."

Midoriya grinned, letting the freckled dotting his cheeks bunch up and the dimples underneath them popping out. "Thank you, Shouto-kun, Kurieiti-san."

"Though that still doesn't really explain why he's still so hostile towards you, even now," Momo said pointedly, taking the rest of her cone into her mouth and swallowing roughly. "Especially when you two are around Ochako."

"Kacchan is…" he stalled for a few seconds, searching for the right words, "a little protective over Uraraka-san. I… they started working out together a few years ago, and one thing led to another."

"They're best friends," Shouto explained, "to put it simply. When we got the apartment together, Katsuki made it very clear to me that he'd much rather be living with Uraraka, but since she had already secured herself a girls-only dorm on campus, he couldn't."

"Pfft," Momo snickered, "so you were the second choice?"

He shot her a measly glare. "I don't like you." He glanced over at Midoriya, who was currently surfing on his cell phone. "Anyway, I was hoping to get an apartment with Izuku, but he apparently had already made other plans."

Midoriya sheepishly scratched the back of his neck. "Ahh, I'm still so sorry about that, Shouto-kun, but you know it wasn't my choice."

To this, Momo cocked her head to the side. "What do you mean?"

Midoriya turned to look at her. "My mom put me in the dorm program, so I got assigned a roommate."

"I didn't really want to live on campus," Shouto added, "so I had asked Izuku if he was interested in renting something out with me, but he said he had already applied for a dorm room."

"Well, I hope your roommate's nice, at least," Momo said to Midoriya. "I mean, everything beats Bakugou, right?"

"Funny," Shouto grumbled.

"My roommate's pretty cool," Midoriya nodded. "He's super friendly and nice. He's a biology major and has a chemistry minor."

"What's his name?" Momo questioned, already impressed by the compatible (and difficult) course selections.

Just as Midoriya was about to reply, the clock tower started ringing, effectively silencing anything he was going to say. Midorya shook his head, giving them both a small smile and waving out to them as he began to back away.

"Wait," Shouto said, catching them both mid-walk. "Once you ask Uraraka, tell her to come to my apartment after class. I'll make Katsuki go take a shower or something. He doesn't usually take his phone in the bathroom."

Momo nodded. "Sounds good," she said. "I may have to bring Kyo with me, but if I'm lucky, it won't happen." She glanced at his eyes, connecting them in a brief moment of perfect contact. "We're still on for dinner, right?"

Shouto just nodded. "You come over."

"Okay."

Midoriya shot them both curious looks. "You guys made dinner plans?" There was something about the way he was looking at the two of them that sent an unsettling feeling coursing through Momo's body. She gulped, looking over to Shouto who suddenly seemed much more qualified to answer the harmless question.

"Kurieiti and Jirou switch off with Katsuki and I daily for dinner," he answered, making Momo sigh in relief. She wasn't sure if she wanted to know what kind of rumor would spread if Shouto hadn't answered the question at all. He then shrugged. "Not a big deal, really."

"Ah," Midoriya nodded, shooting them both uncertain grins before turning and running towards his next class.

Momo made brief eye contact with Shouto, but said nothing as she too started making her way to her next class. They'd be seeing each other later on anyways, but she did manage a meek smile as she passed him, not noticing his adam's apple bobbing up and down slowly.

…

 _Unknown: Kurieiti-san! Shouto-kun gave me your number!_

 _Unknown: Shouto-kun just made Kacchan go take a shower!_

 _-You have added Unknown to your contacts-_

 _Midoriya: If you're ready, come with Uraraka-san and Jirou-san! Kaminari-kun is here too!_

 _Midoriya: Only if you're ready, though! Don't rush yourself!_

 _Midoriya: Oh, by the way, this is Midoriya!_

Momo was beginning to think Midoriya didn't have the button for a period on his phone.

…

Turns out, Momo was not able to shake off Kyouka from coming with her. Apparently, looking through Bakugou's texts was a 'scandalous' feat, that she absolutely could not miss 'even if her life depended on it'. So, she, Kyouka, and Ochako made their way to Shouto and Bakugou's apartment, only to find Kaminari waiting for them outside.

"Well hello, ladies," he said, shooting them all sauve winks. Momo smiled, while Ochako giggled and Kyouka rolled her eyes. Kaminari grinned, before gesturing to the door. "Midoriya and Shouto are already in there." He paused to fiddle through his pockets. "I have the spare key that- wait, where's the key?!"

"You're such an idiot," Kyouka muttered, before pointing to Kaminari's shoe. Kaminari's eyes darted down, landing on the silver key tucked safely inside his shoe. He gasped, quickly bending down to take it into his hands.

"Forgot I kept it there," he said, smiling sheepishly. He then proceeded to hook the key through the front door, popping it open and stepping aside for the girls to get through. "After you, my ladies."

Kyouka gently slapped him while she slid inside, while Momo and Ochako shot each other sideways smirks.

Upon entering the apartment, Momo's eyes were instantly drawn to the couch, where Shouto was sitting, a phone in his hands and Midoriya sitting flush against his side, intently looking at the screen and saying something to Shouto.

She walked up to them, the others following closely behind, before they all stopped dead in their tracks. All except Shouto.

"SOME LEGENDS ARE FUCKING TOLD, AND SOME TURN TO FUCKING DUST OR TO FUCKING GOLD!"

Momo froze, mid-step.

"BUT YOU WILL FUCKING REMEMBER MEEEEE!"

She turned her head to the bathroom door.

"REMEMBER ME FOR FUCKING CENTURIES!"

Shouto took a sip of his coffee.

Momo's jaw dropped.

Ever so calmly, Shouto set Bakugou's cell phone down, stood up, and walked to the bathroom door. A passive expression remained still on his face, and he didn't say a word till he got to the door, lifting his knuckles to knock- hard.

"YOU ARE AN EMBARRASSMENT! SHUT UP KATSUKI!"

"FUCK OFF HALFIE!"

Shouto sighed, rubbing his temples before turning on his heel to face everyone else.

"Ignore him. He won't be able to hear us anyway."

The others exchanged sheepish glances, and Kaminari snickered. He held up his phone, tapping the screen with the nail of his index finger.

"Good thing I got it all on tape," he grinned, before pressing a 'play' button and allowing Bakugou's screeching to fill the room once again.

As Kyouka stomped over to the blonde, Momo glanced back at Shouto, who was now sitting back down on the couch besides Midoriya. She stepped closer to them, eager to hear what they were talking about.

"There's a girl in my psychology course," Midoriya said, voice hushed. "Yaomemi. Do you think maybe…?"

"No," Shouto shook his head. "That would be too obvious."

Midoriya quieted down, his eyes darting up to meet Momo's and settled back into his seat.

When Momo coughed awkwardly, Shouto looked up, his hands tightening around the phone as the others also filled in around them.

"Well, Shouto?" Kaminari grinned, crossing his arms. "Open it up!"

Shouto nodded, pressing the home button on Bakugou's phone and typing in ' _3825'_ when prompted for a passcode. There was a ripple of confusion throughout the room for a short second, ultimately ending with a snort from Kyouka.

"Three-eight-two-five," she snickered, "The letters f-u-c-k are on those keys."

Momo blinked back her laugh as the others openly giggled about it, and instead, she leaned down to better look at the phone's screen, watching intently as Shouto clicked into Bakugou's messaging platform.

Where, inevitably, there were three new messages all from the same person.

 _Kirishima: bakuNO_

 _Kirishima: bakuGO_

 _Kirishima: bakuBRO_

Momo faintly saw Midoriya's eyes go wide upon the unfamiliar name, and in her mind, she tasted the way it sounded. Shouto's lips pursed in confusion.

"Kirishima?" he tested slowly, "that name sounds strangely familiar for some reason."  
"My roommate," Midoriya supplied quickly, the tips of his ears tainted with a faint red glimmer. "Kirishima Eijrou. Kurieiti-san, I told you about my roommate earlier today, right?"

Momo gulped. So this was the biology major with a chemistry minor.

"What's he like?" Kaminari started, looking genuinely curious.

"Kirishima-kun is a great person!" Midoriya quickly said. "Don't take my reluctance lightly, of course. I'm just a little surprised. He never mentioned being friends with Kacchan, that's all."

"Midoriya's salty," Kyouka snickered.

"Ah, I'm sure he had a good reason, Deku-kun!" Ochako supplied, tapping her fingers together and shooting him a nervous smile. "Bakugou-kun didn't tell me anything about this either, if it makes any difference."

"I feel like Bakugou generally doesn't tell people stuff anyway," Momo muttered, looking away, knowing it wasn't exactly her place to speak.

Thankfully, Shouto saved her. "She's right. Katsuki isn't one to delve deep into his personal life."

" _Personal_ life?" Kyouka grinned, finding strange amusement in his words.

Midoriya then began to fumble around with his pockets, slipping his cell phone into his hands and dialing a number. Everyone's eyes were on him as he held the phone delicately to his ear, muttering something inaudible under his breath whilst doing so.

"Ah, Kirishima-kun," he said suddenly, and everyone in the room exchanged awkward glances with each other. "You didn't tell me you knew Kacchan! Who's Ka- Bakugou Katsuki? Yes. Yes that's him. Oh. That's nice. Sorry I just didn't know you two were friends. No no, that's okay. Y-yes I know that was manly of him- what? Oh. Okay. I see. Okay bye, Kirishima-kun. Yes I'll be home. No. Okay. See you." The phone clicked shut, and Midoriya sighed.

"What was that about?" Kaminari asked, plopping into one of the other couches. Momo faintly heard the water shut off from the bathroom, but she didn't say anything about it, much more interested in Midoriya's antics to be confused.

"We're ordering in tonight so I can talk to him," he shrugged. "I want to… warn him."

"About what?" Shouto said, the smallest hint of amusement laced in his voice.

"Kacchan, of course!" Midoriya said, a smile also surfacing on his features. "We all know how he can be!"

"Well I think it's sweet," Momo cut in, giving Shouto a look. "I think it's nice how Midoriya's concerned about Kirishima."

"I wanna meet him," Kaminari said, a sleezy smile playing at his lips. "I'm interested to see who's caught Bakugou's eye."

"His _eye?"_ Midoriya said, looking close to choking on his saliva. "What are you implying?!"

"Ohhh nothing," Kaminari said, winking.

It was then when the bathroom door clicked, creaking open to reveal a half-naked Bakugou, a towel wrapped around his wet lower body. It was the second time Momo was seeing him like this, the first time being when they had first met each other, of course.

"Three…" Shouto said softly under his breath, catching Momo's attention, "two…"

"WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON IN HERE?"

"One."

It was kind of funny, really, in Momo's opinion. Bakugou's usual scowl immediately formed on his face, and everyone's eyes twitched almost simultaneously. The ash-blonde boy growled unhappily, anger clear and evident. The others slowly backed away as Bakugou made eye contact with his exasperated roommate, and Momo had to hold back her snort.

"And why the fuck do you have my phone, Half-Face?"

"Relax, Katsuki," Shouto shrugged, tossing it lightly to the other boy. "We were just exploring."  
"What are you shitballs doing here?" Bakugou said sharply, turning to look at everyone else.

Kyouka snorted evenly, waltzing back to the front door, and Momo immediately took this as a sign of 'I'm about to run.'

"Looking through your phone and finding out about your _boyfriend,_ that's all," she said, shooting him a sauve wink. Bakugou's jaw dropped, his face turning into a dark crimson, and Ochako quickly ran up to him, putting her palms on his shoulder blades and shaking her head.

"Bakugou-kun, no!" she exclaimed, just as Kyouka opened the door and sprinted.

"WHO THE FUCK'RE YOU CALLING BOYFRIEND YOU BASIC-"

"I think I'm going to take my leave now too," Momo said slowly, stopping to wave at Shouto. "Thanks for this, Shouto."  
"Uh… wait," Shouto said, getting up from his seat and walking up to her. "I don't wanna be around him any longer, so would you mind if I walked you to your place?"  
"Eh?" Momo said, her eyes widening. "But it's literally-"

"Good," he nodded, grabbing his phone and slipping his flip-flops on. "See you guys later."  
"Aa- wait! Shouto-kun! Don't leave me here with-"

"DEKUUUU!"

"Kacchan!"

"Bye," Shouto said, before tugging Momo out the door.

…

"Momo," Yaoyorou Yemima's unnerving voice sounded through Momo's cell phone. Momo twisted her lips into a frown. When her mother had called her, she had picked up out of politeness, not because she actually wanted to talk to the older woman.

"Hello Mother," she greeted curtly, already knowing how the conversation was going to play out. "What's with the call? Is something the matter?"

"I just wanted to check up on you, that's all," her mother responded, and Momo could hear the faint ripple of papers in the background of the call. "I'm sorting through the papers of the investigation now and preparing a new file for you."

"A new file?" Momo questioned, playing with the small silver spoon she was holding in her hands. A forgotten bowl of mangos and rice laid in front of her, reminding her that it was still lunch time and she was mighty hungry. She didn't have time to deal with this woman. She and Kyouka were going out with Shouto and Bakugou soon anyway.

"Yes. You told me the old one didn't have enough information on it, correct?" Yemima said. "We managed to look a little deeper into the boy's family history. A Todoroki can't hide much, after all."

"What are you even talking about," Momo groaned. "Listen, Mom, I'm looking, okay? But my studies come first and I've been overloaded with a lot of new assignments as of late."

"Then as soon as you're done with those, go on a few hunts."

"That's not suspicious at all."

"Suspicious to who?"

Momo sighed. "My friends? I _have_ met people here, Mother. It's a school, not a prison house."

"Then tell them you're going man-scouting or something. Pretend you're looking for a boyfriend? Or something to-"

"M-Mother?" Momo gasped, not daring to believe her ears. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm merely telling you that there are many options. You cannot afford to quit your search or take unnecessary breaks."

Momo almost gagged at the implication of what her mother was telling her, though she wouldn't have expected any less.

"I'm hanging up-"

"Momo! Don't talk to me like that."

"I'm _hanging up."_

Momo let the silence settle in for a few moments, her thumb itching to press the red circle on the bottom of her screen to end the call.

"Fine then. Hang up on me," her mother said, and Momo could almost taste the annoyance in her voice, "I suppose you won't be interested in the news I have for you."

"What news?" Momo said through gritted teeth.

"Honestly," her mother muttered, before sighing. "We found out today that the Todorokis are looking for you too. You're a target, Momo."

Momo's hand slipped, and her phone fell to the ground, chips of the glass screen breaking and spreading out across the floor.

"Oh no."

* * *

 **next chapter: study sessions featuring shouto and momo**


End file.
